1. SPIRITUA L FAMILY What’s the purpose of a… Or…why should the church be important to me?

2. 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

3. 1 Timothy 3:15 But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth

4. Being a Christian is more than believing… it includes belonging!

5. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God Ephesians 2:19

6. How will a church and/or spiritual family help me? 1. A church family will help me FOCUS ON GOD

7. Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. Matthew 22:37- 38

8. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3

9. How will a church and/or spiritual family help me? 2. A church family will help me FACE MY PROBLEMS so I’m not alone

10. Who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:10-11

11. Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous 1 Peter 3:8

12. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Romans 12:5

13. How will a church and/or spiritual family help me? 3. A church family will help me GROW IN MY FAITH

14. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God Hebrews 6:1

15. How will a church and/or spiritual family help me? 1. A church family will help me DISCOVER MEANING through helping others

16. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

17. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord…Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 1 Corinthians 12:5, 27

18. How will a church and/or spiritual family help me? 1. A church family will help me TELL MY FRIENDS about God’s way

19. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24

20. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Romans 10:13- 14

21. How do I get the most from a spiritual family?

22. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers… Acts 2:41-42, 46

23. …So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart Acts 2:41-42, 46

24. One last thought: REMAIN CONNECTED