Sermon Series Wrap-up: You BElong Part 1

 



Humans are relational beings. That is how God made us. He always intended for us to interact and commune with other people. Given that fact, there should be no surprise that the desire to belong is a driving force in the lives of most people. Most of us are born into a biological family, which serves as the first group to which we can belong. From there we seek out our cliques of friends, which serve as the first groups to which we can choose to belong. Many of us take it even further and join a variety of other groups like social clubs, fraternities/sororities, and, unfortunately in some cases, gangs, all to feel like we belong to something.

Every believer is automatically a part of a big group, the Body of Christ. However, we also are a part of smaller units within that bigger body in the form of our church families. A couple of important questions should be asked. Do the members of those church families truly feel like they belong? Do people who are not members of those church families feel like they can belong when they encounter those families? If the answer to either of those questions is “No,” there is a problem, because if there is any group in this world which people should feel like they can belong, it should be among God’s people.

Pastor Pope started his coverage of this concept by pointing out that Love is the basis for all belonging particularly with respect to how God sees things.
And Above all things have fervent love for one another for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” - 1 Peter 4:8
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. - John 13:34
The expectation when visiting a church should be that the people within will be ready to embrace those that enter, but if the people of a particular church do not exhibit the love that the Bible discusses, visitors might not feel welcome. The same is the case in the greater world. Biblical love is not the norm in our world, so it’s not surprising that so many people go through their lives feeling like they don’t truly belong to anything.

Pastor Pope wants United Baptist Church (UNITED) to be the kind of church that practices that Biblical love. That means spreading the Gospel to those we encounter, but it also means embracing those we encounter and displaying the traits necessary to make others feel like they can belong. Pastor Pope listed a number of traits and characteristics that, when exhibited, would lead to people feeling like they belong. According to him, to belong, people should feel:

Invited/Desired
Present
Welcomed
Known
Accepted
Supported
Cared For
Befriended
Needed
Loved

Do the people that attend churches in today’s world feel like the other people in the church want them there? Do churchgoers feel like they can be themselves and still be embraced by the church? Do the members of a church family feel like they serve a necessary purpose? We can ask questions about each of those characteristics. If a person can’t answer those questions affirmatively, can that person truly say that he or she really belongs? If a church does not make everyone that enters feel those characteristics day in and day out, is that church really doing what is necessary to make people feel like they belong?


God has done what is necessary to make each of us feel all of those characteristics. Through Jesus, God has made it completely clear that we are desired and welcomed and cared for. What may surprise some is that he’s also demonstrated that he needs us. God has made it so that the spread of the Gospel depends on believers and, because of that, he needs us to do our part to accomplish his desires. As believers, we should all know that we belong to God, and we should make it clear to those who don’t believe how important and beneficial it is to belong to God. Perhaps the best way to help others understand that they belong to God is to first make them feel like they belong with us, his followers.


https://www.facebook.com/222948344433306/videos/1060885797720822

Chris Lawyer
Sermon by Everett Pope

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