Our Family

September has been designated as Family Month at Marsalis Avenue.  When you hear the word family, what image first comes to mind?  For many people, it is the image of the traditional nuclear family: a mother, and father and children.  However, as we seek to minister to our congregation and our community, we must understand that this definition of family is too narrow.  It fails to capture the reality of many people today.  Singles, single parents, married couples without children, widows and widowers, and divorcees are all part of a family.  Unfortunately, many people who do not “fit the mold” of the traditional family don’t feel at home in the family of God, the church.  As we enter into family month, we are reminded that it is not our status that makes us family, it is our standing in Christ. 

We are the family of God.  We are family because of what God has done through Christ.  God is our Father and Jesus is our brother.  In God’s family, every member of the family is invited to the table of worship, fellowship and ministry.  We are not defined by our status.  As God’s family, we should be the best family anyone has ever known because we have the best Father and brother anyone has

ever known.  The nature of our Father should shape who we are.  We should be unconditional in our love, generous in our forgiveness, humble in our attitude, and peaceful in our interactions.  As we enter into family month, pray that God will open your heart to someone who needs a real family.  The church is a family of real people serving the real God.