It's only a few more days now until we celebrate Jesus' birth into his heavenly family.
Our family gathered on Saturday to enjoy our Christmas holiday together. It was a blessed occasion that was emotional and very happy.
My wife and I have been blessed with two daughters and four grandchildren. A fifth grandchild will arrive in May so the excitement around the Schneider clan was very evident yesterday.
Before we enjoyed a delicious meal and opened up Christmas presents, we joined hands in prayer.
It was the first time in nearly a year that every member of the family had gathered under one roof to pray.
I asked each one to look around the circle we had formed and and look at each other to savor this special moment.
It was precious. I couldn't hardly speak because I as so happy.
The moment gave me hope for the future and appreciation for the present.
God has blessed this family in so many ways and for that I can not properly put together the right words to say thank you, but I do know that this family is close and of one spirit.
We may not have everything we always desire materially, but we have a gift that no amount of money can buy. We have each other and love that is strong and can not be broken.
The moment made me more fully realize that family is God's chosen institution for bringing children into the world and for nurturing and training them. It is the fiber from which all godly human institutions are woven, and the fabric of both church and society will disintegrate if its very fiber is torn.
The concept of family is extremely important in the Bible, both in a physical sense and in a theological sense.
The concept of family was introduced in the very beginning, as we see in Genesis 1:27-28.
It reads: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
God's plan for creation was for men and women to marry and have children.
In Genesis 2:24 it says a man and a woman would form a "one-flesh" union through marriage and they with their children become a family, the essential building block of human society.
God the Father recognized the importance of family when he initiated the spiritual conception of his son, Jesus, in the womb a young virgin girl named Mary.
God didn't have to do that.
He could have just created Jesus, like he did Adam and Eve. But by Jesus' birth, prophecies were fulfilled and we were taught much during the 33 year life of God's son on this earth.
Let us each display and practice practice the things that Jesus taught us like, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control toward family members as we are directed in Galatians 5:22-23.
During this Christmas season, as more and more government units are wanting to legislate away families, I pray that across our nation God will raise up a revival of concern for and commitment to families.
God, please heal the desire to stray from God's plan for human relationships and social structure. Help the family unit to remain strong.
God, we pray that you help our nation to discover that Biblical family life is the divinely mandated alternative to the ever-increasing socialism and institutionalized living that too many are following.
These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box.
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