I Love the Bride of Christ 1 Timothy 3:15; 5:1-8 17 June 2012

1 Timothy 3:15, 5:1-8 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God the pillar and foundation of the truth. 1 Timothy 5 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. 3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

1 Tim 3:4-5 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) Ephesians 2:19-20 reads, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household…”

Hebrews 2:11 “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. .” Galatians 3:27-28 “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”

Family resemblance “be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (Rom 8:29) “your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5).

Church is like a family that is the good news Church is like a family that is the good news. The bad news is the Church is like family. The truth is families don’t always get along. Comedian George Burns said, “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family—that lives in another city.”

The truth is families don’t always get along The truth is families don’t always get along. Church families don’t always get along either. “If you are looking for a perfect church and think you’ve found it, for heaven’s sake, don’t join it. You will mess it up for sure.”

The Church has positives and negatives The Church has positives and negatives. We can point out the faults and problems within any church... but despite all of its warts and faults, the church is something we should love.

We can say we love the church, but if we love the church, the Bride of Christ, then we must show it through what we choose to do and how we choose to live our lives. 1 Corinthian 10:31 says whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.

Ephesians 5:25-32 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Reasons why we love the Church We Love The Church Because Christ Loves the Church Jesus demonstrated this love that he had for the church. He Gave Himself Up for the Church b. He Takes Care of the Church c. He Hurts When the Church Hurts

Reasons why we love the Church II. I Love The Church Because The Church is God’s Family III. I Love The Church Because of the Strong Relationships

Conclusion: The good news is Church is like a family and the bad news is Church is like a family.