Becoming Sons and Daughters of God

I do want to say thank you as well here before I get started. It takes a bit to step out of the door and get on a plane and go halfway around the world and be gone for three weeks and things on the home front just to continue and to run smoothly. And honestly, I pray about it every time I leave, and God answers the prayer.

And one of the big ways He answers that prayer is just simply through the people He's provided who are already in place, serving, encouraging the congregation, being the pillars and the support system that we have here in place. So I just wanted to extend a big thanks for everybody who is in that position of serving and helping. Ultimately, that's all of us. We pray. We encourage.

God gives us opportunities to serve in so many different ways. But there's some specific things that really have to keep running when I leave, and I can't necessarily do them remotely. And I just wanted to again thank everyone who is in place and does their part so well. And the blessing of God is that He supports those things for us, and as His people, we rejoice in the Sabbath, an opportunity to be together.

And I guess what I'm saying is the show can run without me. But it's always nice to come home as well. Bring you warm greetings from your brethren in Nigeria and Ghana. Everywhere that Ben Light and I traveled, everyone said, please send your greetings back, our greetings to the brethren at home. We appreciate them. We appreciate their support. We appreciate their prayers. We appreciate the fact that they share their pastor with us. And in like manner as well, I'm bringing your greetings to them.

Dari and Tona Kimbo, who many of you know, send their love as well. It's always a pleasure to go stay with them in their house, to see their family, see how much their children have grown. Rotawa has graduated from college and is back at home and is actually working in the technical field for his dad and taking in outside projects as well. Tommiwa, their daughter, is off to college and Bobby is grown and about as tall as the rest of the family.

So, you know, time goes quickly, but they're servants of God there, serving as well. So they send their love. The brethren in Ghana, David and Betty Moselleby, our pastor and wife there, send their greetings to you all, as well as our office manager and his wife, Henry and Hannah Aikens. You've seen pictures, you've heard stories about them, and again, they feel a part of us. They listen, they connect, they download sermons, and they say, you know, we really feel a part of your congregation, even at home.

So I just wanted to extend those greetings to you. In Light Night did return here on Tuesday from three weeks in West Africa. That included a week at United Youth Camps in Nigeria, and then following that, a whirlwind tour around Ghana. We basically hit the ground in Ghana, got in the car and visited everywhere that we have congregations in Ghana.

We had four days of literally 12, 14-hour days on the road, making stop to stop. But visiting the leadership and the brethren that could assemble with us. Everywhere we have congregations, we went there, and even someplace new, which for me, that's exciting after so many years to get to go somewhere new, see a new place, meet new people. That's an adventure, and I'll tell you a little bit more about that a little later on in the message. But again, Youth Camp was an adventure. It was a success in Nigeria.

For me, it's always an adventure. We don the life jackets. We get on boats with a dozen other people per boat. We get about four boats speeding out of Lagos across the open water, kind of through these canals that run through these marshes that are overgrown. And you see these little trails that go back into the marshes, and you wonder what made them and what lives in there. You speed out across these waterways, and you come up onto the backside of this narrow strip of land.

It's a freshwater lake, essentially on the backside, and the frontside then has the ocean waves that crash in. It's just an incredible spot to have a Youth Camp. I told Dari, I said, if this spot was in the U.S., we would do anything practically to secure this location. You could have boating activities on the backside and ocean activities on the frontside.

And actually I told Dari, I said, why don't you check in and maybe see what's available, and we'll perhaps have an opportunity to establish a little more of a permanent camp in the future there.

But really an incredible spot. Ben and I were very comfortable, temperature-wise. I think I've mentioned before, we like to pitch our tent, just facing the ocean as the waves are crashing in. We unzip the front of our tent, we unzip the back of the tent at night, and the ocean breeze just can blow completely through, and it's like sleeping in air conditioning. And in the morning, you wake up and everything's wet because you're covered with this salty fog that kind of blows in in the evening.

But it's very pleasant and probably the most comfortable I ever have been in West Africa. If you like hot and spicy food, Nigeria just might be the place for you. This is my sales pitch for Youth Corps. Alright? So if you have an interest, keep your mind open, but hot and spicy food is part of the routine. A typical breakfast at Youth Camp was this big plate piled with food, and it would be mackerel, pile of spaghetti, boiled egg or two, and it's all covered in the red, as I call, fire sauce of West Africa.

They take that red powder that I've brought home, and they make a very vibrant, shall I say, sauce out of that, and it covers everything. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The joke is we go to Ghana after Nigeria just to cool down internally, but certainly quite a wonderful experience. If you follow it with Starbucks each morning, Starbucks via, you gotta live even on the beach in Africa. Breakfast is actually a wonderful, fiery, and caffeinated experience. One morning, this kitchen staff surprised us. They made donut holes. The kitchen is actually kind of primitive, set outside, and they build fires and charcoal fires and propane fires, and the staff is up at 4.30 in the morning working for camp breakfast, and one morning they fried up these donut holes, and did I say it was a surprise?

You've never lived until you've had fresh-fried donut holes infused with Nigeria red pepper. You know, I'm telling you, I think there is a reason COVID has never taken hold over there. You just burn it out. But again, this is supposed to be a sales pitch for Youth Corps, so we just want people who can stand the fire and have fun at the same time as well. So, I'll just say, if you have an adventurous spirit and you've ever thought of traveling to West Africa and you enjoy serving at United Youth Camps, we're looking to get the Youth Corps program fired back up here for next year.

COVID kind of put the brakes on it, but it'll be a nice opportunity to expose some young adults to West Africa and help them build relationships as well in other parts of the world. One of my responsibilities this year at camp was helping to teach the Christian living classes. Those were held each day. Ben Light and Dari and I took turns in rotation, and each day one of us would take a class and teach it.

Each class was built in as a sub-theme of the overall theme for camp, which this year the theme was Becoming Sons and Daughters of God. For today's sermon, what I'd like to do is take basically a broad overview of the material that we covered at camp.

I would say if any of our youth here were at camp, this will be a little bit of a reminder of what you received. But I think it's very important for the rest of us as well to have a good understanding of what was taught at camp.

This is a message that applies not only to us as adults in the church, but to our youth. As Mr. Pendergast talked about, these messages have to be relevant to them. It's a biblical message that's relevant for all people and all time. What God is doing, sons and daughters of God, is doing generation by generation. It's been said that most ministers usually have two or three sermon topics that they speak on, and they just repackage it in different ways and give it over and over.

I've really tried hard to avoid that. I think I at least have five or six sermon topics maybe that I focus on. But if I would say there's one topic that's dominated my focus over the years more than any other that I have returned to a number of times, it's probably this one, coming back in focus to the family of God and God's family plan and what it is that God is doing.

Because, brethren, I believe that the knowledge of God's family plan is one of the most important pieces of understanding that we can have in the church of God. It makes us unique. Maybe we don't really even quite comprehend how unique it makes us. How many funeral services have you been to outside of the church of God where this understanding is expressed? You know, I've heard the resurrection taught, but I've heard it taught as this person's in heaven, and eventually there'll be this resurrection, and somehow they're combined with this body.

I haven't been able to figure out exactly how those things mesh, but I'll just say what God is doing in His eternal family plan is really an understanding that's quite unique to the church of God. And it is something that I think we must continually hammer home in our mind. It gives us relevance. It gives us meaning in the world in which we live, and it provides answers to life's most important questions. One of my teachers over the years has been Dr. Ward, and if you listen to Dr. Ward, he will ask these important questions of life.

Who is God? What is God? And what is His purpose? And likewise, alongside that, who is man? What is man? And what is His purpose? And as the church of God, we have the answers to those questions. We must be careful never to take it for granted, never to think, okay, we've heard this before, we know this. It is what God is doing. It is what He's put His focus, His purpose, and poured His will into. It is what His Son has poured His very life being into.

And it's something we must never take for granted. As Ben and Dari and I were discussing this topic before camp, again, becoming sons and daughters of God, we were acknowledging the fact that God's family plan stands on the front lines of the greatest spiritual battle of our age. The fact that the church of God is under assault, and frankly, the entire world is under assault, under the concepts of what is family, you know, what is marriage, what is sexuality, in terms of gender identity, this teaching stands on the front of those battle lines, and, brethren, we do need to hold the ground.

We need to hold the ground with our youth, help them to understand why were they created, what is their purpose, what does God seek to fulfill. And so, as such, I believe that this is a topic that is one of the most important messages we've ever covered at United Youth Camp. And as I said, it was broken down each and every day, an hour of discussion on each of these topics. So I'm going to take five hours of material to boil it down, if I can, for a flyover view here.

Sons and daughters of God. On Monday, the theme was, Meet the Family. Meet the Family. That was the sub-theme. And so let's do that here today to begin with. Follow me, please, to John chapter 1. We're going to meet the family. John chapter 1. John's gospel message is one that is not one of the synoptic gospels, such as the other three are. John actually stands separate to a degree, which means he often describes events from a different perspective than the other three gospel writers. And in doing so, he addresses topics in a little bit of a different way, and he adds, frankly, a clarity on certain subjects that aren't necessarily as clear, maybe, in the other gospels.

Because when you understand the timing and the reason behind his writings, John is clearing up some things that had become twisted. Things that had become muddled in the Gnostic teachings of the day and the detractors that sought to take away from the message of who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and the plan of salvation. And so as a result, there were questions that were surrounding the divinity of Jesus Christ. Questions surrounding the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, and questions about whether he was even truly born in the flesh.

You know, was he just a vision and an aberration, or did he truly come as a flesh and blood human being, and did he truly die? You know, these were things by the end of the first century which were becoming confused, twisted in knots, and even the people of God had confusion introduced. And John then comes along at the end of the first century as the last living apostle who says, I was there.

I'll just reference you if you go to 1 John 1, verse 1. It's like he's speaking of Christ. He who our eyes have seen, who our hands have handled and touched concerning the Word of Life, that eternal life that was with the Father from the beginning. John says, let me set some things straight. And it begins with discussing here as well the family of God.

So we're going to begin in John chapter 1 and verse 1. It says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. As John here helps to establish the foundation of our understanding of the family of God.

And there's more passages throughout the Bible. You don't just narrow in on one, but passages that help to increase and fill in the understanding of this concept. We see from John chapter 1 here that there are two divine beings who have existed together from eternity. God the Father, and the Word who became Jesus Christ. And in the beginning the Word was with God.

And you can highlight that word with because it gives you not only identification, but it gives you relationship. This wasn't just an expression of God's utterance. This was a being that was in relationship with God from the beginning.

Again, establishing existence and relationship. And it says, in the Word was God establishing identity. God is who He was. Verse 3 says, So John goes on then to establish the active role that the Word played in creation. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 15 through 17 confirms all things were created through Him.

With God the Father being the chief architect, so to speak. And Jesus Christ being then the builder who put these things in this plan into motion through of God through Jesus Christ. But the question becomes why? You know, we have this introduction and this incredible amount of understanding that's just within a few verses, but why?

Why would God do this? Why would He bring about this creation? Why would He send His Son? Why do we look up in the sky and see the sun, moon, and the stars and live on this planet with the breathable air and have trees and grass and water to the drink? What is the point? Well, the point ultimately from the beginning by will and purpose of God is that God is building His family.

God is building His family. Verse 10 says, He, speaking of Jesus Christ, was in the world, and the world was made through Him. And the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become, notice, children of God. To those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So we're talking about children. We're talking about birth. Ultimately, birth not just into the flesh, but into the likeness of God.

If you go back in your minds, I covered a sermon on the day of Pentecost. This one was born in Zion. Again, speaking of spiritual begettle and ultimate birth into the likeness of God. Here in verse 13, the word born, the word born in the Greek is genau, G-E-N-N-A-O, and it literally means to beget, to bring forth.

It's what God is doing in the lives of those who believe upon Jesus Christ, the Messiah whom He sent, those who would come under that sacrifice. They can be born, as John said, not of blood, not of this flesh, but begotten spiritually by the Spirit of God, growing and developing into the literal children of God. Verse 14, it says, Again, John is setting straight concepts that have become muddled by the Gnostic teachings and the detractors of His age, and frankly, sometimes even of our age.

Verse 18 says, So we have the Son, and we have the Father, and we have these two beings now, as the family currently stands, existing in a family relationship, the Father and the Son. And so we hear, And that's exciting, brethren, isn't it? It's exciting. It's the plan of God. It's the purpose of God. It's the answer to the questions that, frankly, plague mankind when they look up into the stars and say, What am I doing here, and what's my purpose?

And when they struggle and seek and grope after something, that they can make their purpose, and after maybe even decades of that, they're still a void. The answer is, you are called to be a child of God. That is our primary focus. And if we seek that first, everything else will fall in place. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 26, then we see the foundation of where this process starts for us.

It runs from the very beginning of Scripture, as we'll see today, all the way through to the very end. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 26, very familiar for us. Again, let us never grow tired of these words.

So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him male and female. He created them. Mankind, as we see, was made in the image of God, and not only in form only. You know, it's not that we're just shaped like God, and that's as far as it goes. We're made in the image of God in terms of our ability to think, to reason, to have emotions. God gets happy. God can be sad. He can be angry. He can be disappointed. Those are all emotions that we've had built into our system in His form and likeness. As human beings, we can dream dreams, and we can make plans, and we can take those plans and use them in pursuit of our dreams. Because we have a vision we've taken on. It is part of the nature and the character of God, and He directs it righteously. But indeed, it's what's been created in us, these same qualities of God. And it's because we've been given the spirit and man that separates us from all the rest of creation. Man is special because he is made in the image of God, and he's made with the potential to become the literal sons and daughters of God.

And as such, we endeavor to become more and more like Him each day. And our goal must be to take on the characteristics of the family to which we've been called. It is the family of God. So the memory scripture for Monday was Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14 and 15. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Again, that family is the family of God.

Something for Tuesday. Again, I'm taking essentially hour-long lectures and trying to boil them down for you, but this is an important overview. Tuesday's sub-theme was family built on love. Family built on love. And, you know, sometimes a question comes up, you know, okay, is this another sermon on love? And my question and response would be, can we ever have too much love? Can we ever have too much understanding of love? Now, you can claim love as a dismissal, okay, for sin. That's not where we want to go with it. But what we need to understand is that love is absolutely the foundation of the family of God. And it's critical to its existence and its function. First John chapter 4 and verse 7.

First John chapter 4 and verse 7, we see just how deeply entrenched the true characteristic of love is with God. And how much it must be infused in this family relationship as well. First John chapter 4 and verse 7, John says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. He's the source. He is the author of the purity of this love. And it says, And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Again, birth is this family relationship and is foundational in love. Verse 8, He who does not love, does not know God, for God is love. And this is love that God was manifested. This is the love of God that was manifested towards us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us. Okay, first, right? While we were enemies of God, he sent Jesus Christ. He loved us, sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us. And so love is the principle upon which this family is being built. And it's a family that was started out of love. And it's a family that's expected to be maintained, and frankly, increased in strength and numbers through this relationship of love. It's the love of God that made provision for our salvation through Jesus Christ. Apart from that, we would not know either life, true life, or love. And this is the foundation of all that God is doing for the family. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, the family built upon love.

And the Apostle Paul reinforcing the point, Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, "...you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." The wages of sin is death. That's where we're at. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. He has made us alive. "...in which he once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." Paul says we were all there. We were all born into a world that is there. We existed there until God and His love pulled us out of there. We went from being sons of disobedience to sons of God. Why would God do that? Well, it is His love extended to us. Verse 4, "...but God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved. And He's raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus." So again, it's incredible, brethren, to just think about and consider this dramatic transformation that's taken place. Going from sons of disobedience to the point that God said, I love these people, even if they're rolling around in the gutter, even if they're living their life in a way that is repulsive to the point they are my enemies, I'm still going to send my only begotten Son for them. Right? God so loved the world. And the fact that this transformation now has been made, why would God do that? Well, because He is our Father. We are His children created in His likeness.

Those of you, brethren, who have children of your own, if you've taken time, just think back. For us, we're going back 27 years with Austin, about 20 years with Tabitha, think back on the first time, at least in my mind, that I held them in my arms, just moments after each were born, you know, in the nursery. And I look down and you see this innocent, helpless face, knowing, it's not going to stay that way. That's the condition of all mankind, right? We are all going to grow up, and we're all going to make mistakes, but also understanding the fact that these are my children. And no matter what mistakes they make, I'm still going to love them. I'm still going to try the best I can to my ability to extend to them every opportunity to succeed in this life. I'm going to do what I can to point them to God. And the purpose is because I am their Father, and they are my children. And that's a bond that's unbreakable. So I would just say, consider, brethren, God the Father, Jesus Christ on high, I'm thrown in heaven looking down and seeing the children of God on this earth, at least all those who have the potential to be born into the family of God. He extended himself for us, and I would say, in a very deep way. He was even probably willing to open himself up, and did open himself up to hurt, as he saw his only begotten son tortured and killed, but again, for us, that we might live. That's an incredible blessing to consider, the love of God. And that, too, is a bond that's unbreakable. Romans chapter 8 and verse 35.

Romans chapter 8 and verse 35.

Apostle Paul, once again, asks a very important question. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? He says, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, peril, or the sword? Can anything happen to us on this earth that, you know, maybe God says, I don't know, these people of mine, they're kind of the hunted, they're kind of the chased on the earth, they're not maybe even the brightest, or the greatest, or the most wealthy, and frankly, at the end of the age, nobody likes them. Maybe that could separate us from the love of Christ.

Paul says, absolutely not. Verse 36, as it is written, for your sake, we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. And yet in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor personalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, or any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These are incredible words, brethren. Incredibly comforting words when we consider the fact that the family of God is built upon an unbreakable bond of love. We're the weak link, and we can depart from that, we can break that, but God never will. We must learn to always express the same love ourselves towards our God, towards our elder brother Jesus Christ, and towards one another.

The memory scripture for Tuesday was John chapter 3 verse 16 and 17. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. It is the love of our Father and our Elder Brother in action. Now Wednesday's sub-theme was join the family. Join the family. Because, you see, once God has opened our minds to the reality of His existence, and to His family plan that He has laid before us, we each have an important choice to make.

Will we accept the calling of God? Will we choose to participate in this family relationship? And I would say for our youth and for our teens, and especially those that camp there in the age bracket, where now your big choices that sit right before you in life.

You're going to decide who you're going to marry, where you're going to live, what your career is going to be. You're discovering who you are as a person as you move into adulthood. But you see, the point is all of that has to be framed within the concept of putting God first, understanding His purpose. His purpose is for you to be a part of His family. We're still in Romans chapter 8. Let's go back to verse 8. Romans 8 verse 8. I want us to understand, though, what God is offering through Jesus Christ. Repentance for the remission of sins, baptism, right?

Laying on of hands, the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Those are critical elements for making this choice to be a part of the family. And apart from those things, we cannot be the family of God. Romans chapter 8 verse 8 says, So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

He says, But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. So it's a very important principle to understand, brethren, that the receiving of God's Holy Spirit, and that comes again through repentance and baptism and the laying on of hands, it's a necessary component for entering and participating in the family of God. Verse 13 says, For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the flesh you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.

Again, a very intimate relationship. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, enjoin heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. So again, the Holy Spirit is clearly a necessary component in being sons and daughters in the family of God.

Those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And yet, I think sometimes we can tend to drag our feet. And even our young people maybe can tend to drag their feet, because sometimes we think we need to have all our issues sorted out first. We have to have all our ducks in a row before we commit to baptism. We do have to have our priorities straight, okay? We need to know where our priorities stand, and that we're entering into a covenant relationship with God.

But if you think you have to be perfect before baptism, think again. Because all of us who have gone through that process, we would tell you that is the beginning of the course correction. It's not the end. In fact, life is full of course corrections.

We never stop seeking to grow, to become like the character of the family we've been called into. And until we're perfected at the return of Jesus Christ, we will never truly attain that. But again, we must be born of the Spirit. As we saw in John 1, verse 13, it says, Those who are begotten receive that birth, again, not by blood, not by the will of man, but by the Spirit of God.

Again, brethren, the point is we've all been created for an important purpose. It is why we are here. It is the answers to the questions of life. Another reality of Scripture is that God is calling all people to salvation, but not all at this time. God has a plan. We walk through that with the Holy Days. He has an order in which He is fulfilling that plan. Those who have been called out today, who have entered into covenant with God, are called firstfruits in the Bible. They're sons and daughters of God, yet to be born in the fullest glory of that. But we get to go first, and we are, as the Bible calls us, the firstfruits. As firstfruits, we have a responsibility to live according to the family standard today, because we are being judged today, according to that standard. It's not the case for all of mankind. There is judgment, which will be upon mankind at the end of the age, but in terms of judgment unto salvation, as Peter said, it is time for judgment to begin at the house of God, and begins with us first. So the assessment of the family is currently underway with the firstfruits, but again, God does these things according to His plan and in His order. 2 Peter 3, verse 8 and 9, talks about the fact that God is not slack concerning His promises, as some count slackness. But He's long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So what that tells us is that God's plan is perfect. And He's working within His perfect timing for everyone, so that they can all have the opportunity to make the decision for themselves. No one will be left out. No one will be overlooked. No one will be discarded in this process. God has created everyone alike for the purpose of His family.

Now, ultimately, all of mankind will receive that same opportunity, some today, the majority in the second resurrection. So what about answering God's call? What does that truly look like? Again, it's repentance. It's baptism. It's responding to God in a relationship through prayer and Bible study. It means submitting to Him in repentance, and receiving His Spirit, and submitting to His will. It's an active process, day in and day out, and it's a pruning process as well, cutting off, removing, separating from ourselves the things that don't conform to the character of God. Memory Scripture for Wednesday was Romans 8 and verse 14. Romans 8 and verse 14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

Subtheme for Thursday, again, each supporting the overall theme. Thursday's subtheme struck a chord with me, and it was one that I had the opportunity to teach personally. Subtheme on Thursday was, Family Sticks Together. Family Sticks Together, a very important principle. As we grow, brethren, as we develop in this calling, God blesses us with the opportunity to interact with family, other members, other children. He's called into relationship with Him, and He's brought them here, right, to us. We interact together. We worship together. We fellowship together. And it's God's desire that we grow and develop in this calling together as a family, a spiritual family, that not only do we grow with our relationship with God, we grow with each other.

At camp this year, there's activities that are presented, and each one of them we try to tag a spiritual lesson to them. And the overarching theme is that we're in this together, because we are family. And the activities that we develop each and every day at camp require the teamwork of the entire dorm. And it wasn't a singular activity where you went out and I'm the only one.

Ben Light and I had the opportunity to oversee and run the challenge course, and that was developed where you had various activities that the entire team had to get through together. And no one person could say, I can do that, and move on. The team had to rely on the team to move on together. The first course was actually strung up between two trees, essentially a spider web made out of ropes, and you had all these little odd-shaped gaps within the spider web. And each team would have to pass through the spider web without the big albino white spider from the U.S. coming to attack you, right?

So that was the big game. So you have a couple of bigger gaps, and the first couple people through can bend and shimmy and move around and contort themselves. And get through, but you can't use the same opening twice.

And the entire team of, I remember, 12-15 people had to get through this, and you had to pick a different opening for each team member. So after the first one or two get through, you have the majority of your team on this side, a couple team members on this other side, and now you're having to go, how do we get someone through that opening? And you have all your team members now taking people, you're lifting them up, 6-8 people lifting someone up with that participant, you know, they're straight, their heads back, their arms are tucked in, and they're passing them through the web to the other side to the team who's receiving them and setting them on the ground again.

And the entire team had to pass through essentially each activity on the obstacle course in a similar manner. And again, there's a lesson that's built into those challenges, and it's teamwork, it's unity, it's the fact that the team was created to get there together, and you need each other to get there together as well. And that's the principle of this day, Thursday, family sticks together. One of the benefits of this spiritual family is our opportunity to spend time together. God commands a family reunion every seven days. We try to have Friday night dinner around our house with as many family members are available to come, and it happens most weeks, but not every week.

But it's a joy to get together with your family. God has commanded, I don't know if we've thought of it this way, the Sabbath as a family reunion each and every day. We commune with our brothers and sisters in fellowship. We have fellowship with our father and elder brother in Jesus Christ, and the family comes together in worship and in praise of our God. One of the most beautiful things to me about visiting Nigeria and Ghana is that I can call them family.

You know, I look different than they do. My primary language actually is different than theirs. I'm grateful they speak English. I was brought up in a different culture than they are. I eat different foods, by and large, than they do, although it's an adventure to try what is served each and every time. But the fact is, we are family, and God brings us together as one, not by flesh and blood, not by physical birth. And family sticks together. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19, the Apostle Paul addresses this concept. And I would say, brethren, if anyone of you walked into a congregation in Lagos, Nigeria, or in Accra, Ghana, you would be considered family as well.

Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 19, Now therefore you will no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building is being fitted together. I have the word together underlined in my Bible. It is an essential element to the structure. The whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

So God's purpose for his family today is to be built together, to be fitted together so perfectly that we then become an acceptable habitation for God. And that doesn't happen apart. That doesn't happen. Stones scattered out in the field here and there and everywhere. The fact is, to assemble the house, the stones must come together.

They must have a relationship together, and they must be fit together and fit so perfectly that they add strength to the house. And God says, yes, I will indeed put my spirit there because the structure is solid. Again, that doesn't happen apart. It can only happen together.

Togetherness takes work, doesn't it? Togetherness takes effort. Sometimes, togetherness takes a willingness to even suffer wrong for the sake of the rest of the family. It takes a commitment to maintain togetherness. And just like any other family, there's times when this family experiences challenges. But God's called us to work through those challenges and to submit one to another and to yield to His Spirit in us so that we can overcome those things. Come out the other side of the challenge together, and hopefully, if God's Spirit is working, stronger, greater unity between the stones and the habitation of God. Ephesians 4. There's a couple pages over.

Ephesians 4 and verse 1. Paul says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love. There's that four-letter L word again. It's amazing how many times it pops up in the Scriptures, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, one Spirit, just as you were called in, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. Unity, brethren, is a choice. It's a choice. You can choose whether to fight for unity, or you can choose whether to just scatter apart to the wind, but unity is a choice and it takes effort on everyone's part to maintain it. Romans chapter 14 and verse 19 tells us to pursue the things which make for peace. Go after those things, but all your might into pursuing what it is that makes for peace among the body, and also the things by which one may edify another.

So to me, when I come to Sabbath services, I pray to God every day in the car, every Sabbath. I say, God, your people are assembling today on the Sabbath. Please help this to be a day of encouragement, a day of strength, a day that we all walk away from services feeling like, you know, I'm glad I went and I have what I need to get through another week. But I can't stand up here as the pastor and single-handedly supply that to you. This requires all of us, again, together, supplying to one another the things that make for peace and the things by which one may build up another. And that's the family we've been called into, and family sticks together.

We spent a week in Nigeria, again, actually more like 10 days if you include both before and after camp, but camp lasted a week. We had a day of recovery at Dari's house after we boated back in, and then Ben and I boarded a plane and traveled back in time to Ghana. You get on at 7 a.m., and we landed at 6.58 a.m. and gone on just a time change. But we hit the road, and we went place to place to place. It kind of felt a little bit like a whistle-stop tour, you know, almost like you're running for office. You stop, you shake some hands, you wave, you kiss some babies, and you're on your way. But, you know, there was more to it than that, and we were encouraging the leadership on the way and had a number of meetings. But I did say we saw a new place on this trip. Takarati. Takarati is a city, it's a coastal port city in Ghana, about four and a half hours west of Accra. And we had a meeting there, lasted about four hours. We met with a group that was a part of the United Church of God up until the latter part of 2010. And they said, we want to be together again. Now, this is something that was in play before I even traveled there. Some communication had gone back and forth. And I said, we will be there on these dates. Let us, you know, sit down, let us visit, let us discuss a few things.

And I'll just say, as I went place to place to place, this was our, basically, our final destination before coming back to Accra. But everywhere I stopped, the leaders we talked to, the brethren we talked to, they said, please, receive them back. These are our brothers, these are our sisters, and we want them back in the family. And so, we made our way out there. We sat down, again, probably about 35 of the leaders there, and some of the members who came to visit and listen in as well, from five different congregations in the region that have requested to rejoin the United Church of God. Like I said, this separation took place latter part of 2010. And over the years, we've actually received back about 60% in Ghana of those who departed during that time. A group came back of three congregations in 2015. Another group I received back in 2018. Again, if you're family, you're going to stay in communication, you're going to talk. And so, communications went back and forth, and questions began to be asked. Like, is the United Church of God okay? You know, is it really what we were told it would become? And so now, questions are being asked in other organizations of why did we even leave in the first place? And satisfying answers, frankly, did not come. And they said, we want to be together again. And so, we sat down, as I said, with them, portions of five congregations, about 120 people total in all. And those who know them for history of years said, please receive our family again. And so, we're going to be moving forward with the process now of having these five additional congregations and fellowship with us, again, in the United Church of God. And it will be a blessing. And we're now looking at, I would say, our numbers in Ghana will run about 350-370 for the United Church of God there. In 2011, we were 50. We're 50. So, this has been a blessing, and God has opened this door. My new challenge now is to figure out how to pay for 120 more people to attend the feast on the same budget. But, you know, we're going to work it out because God has called us. They said, we want to be together, and we will be together because family sticks together. Merry Scripture for Thursday, John chapter 13, verse 34 and 35. A new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. Again, that's a litmus test. That's what the world looks for. That's what other people, even in the Church of God, look for. These are the disciples of Jesus Christ that I'm assembling with even here today. When I was over on this trip, the message was conveyed in a couple of different directions as well. Others are watching. Others are considering. And they're considering to see what indeed happens from this point forward. God's called the family to be together. The final sub-point then for Friday was family forever. Family forever. You start in Genesis. Let us make man in our image because we want a family, God says. Revelation chapter 21. Family forever.

This is a relationship, brethren, that is not temporary. Family forever reaches out beyond the physical existence. It reaches out into eternity. The most powerful understanding alongside the family relationship, I say, and hand in hand with the family relationship, is the resurrections.

And to me, I think there are core principles in the Church of God that we need to continually come back to and hammer home because these are what make us unique. These are the things that will see us through the times to come. So a powerful understanding is the resurrections. And whether through the first resurrection as glorified first fruits or through the second resurrection unto physical life, God's plan is to give all of mankind the opportunity to join his family forever, to understand what it is he's offered and why he has created them. Revelation 21 describes the beginning of the eternal expanse.

You know, beginning of eternity really isn't even the right term, but just for subject's sake. Revelation 21, beginning in verse 3, we begin to see how this will then extend on out for those who have accepted this calling of family. Revelation 21 and verse 3, John writes, And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. And God himself will be with them, and will be their God.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, no more sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain. Those are the realities, frankly, brethren, of this life. But it says, because the former things have passed away. What God has purposed is to sweep these things out of the way so that they no longer exist. Eternity in the family is what will be the stability for all time. Verse 5, Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, It is done.

I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, and the end. I will give over the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirst. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Again, a family relationship forever. The best is yet to come, brethren. The best is yet to come. For those that would acknowledge the call of God, that would remain faithful until the end, the best is yet to come.

God and the Lamb are its temple. Okay? Describing the New Jerusalem. God and the Lamb are its temple. They are its light. The waters of living... excuse me, the waters of living... the living waters, the waters of life, proceed from the throne of the Father and of the Lamb. And they shall dwell together with the members of God's family forever and ever. Knowing that you and I have been created for this purpose should give us an awareness of the importance of our choices today.

Because how we direct our life, how we order our steps day in and day out now makes an indelible stamp on eternity. We need to live our life framed from the perspective of the family of God, of the purpose of our creation, and the fact that God wants desperately to be our Eternal Father and we, His children. Friday's Memory Scripture, Romans 8, verse 16 and 17. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. What an incredible calling, brethren! What an incredible plan! It is one that never grows old, never grows stale, let us never get tired of hearing it or studying it or making it our life's focus.

It is what God has made it the focus of His will and His purpose. You and I were created to be the sons and daughters in the family of God forever. Let us be diligent to do our part.

Thank you.