UNBELIEF A KILLER OF HOPE Numbers14:11

 

UNBELIEF A KILLER OF HOPE

       Numbers 14:11

Num 14:11 And the Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?

UNBELIEF IS A MONSTER

Strive with all diligence to keep out that monster unbelief. It dishonours Christ. It promotes the lie that He will withdraw His visible presence from us. It is true weed, the seeds of which we  can never entirely remove from the soil of our lives. We must aim at its root, the lie of the devil and do all we can with zeal and perseverance to rid ourselves from it. We have to take responsibility for removing all unbelief that exists in our hearts.

Have you ever planted a garden? You prepared the soil, put in the right nutrients and planted seeds. But weeds show up in the mist. Weeds will take over unless you pull them out. Unbelief is a weed of ungratefulness.

Unbelief overlooks all that God has done in favor of a negative view of current circumstances. The whole group of Israelites had witnessed  their release from bondage in Israel. They saw the Red Sea parted and all walked on a dry sea bed to safety. They witness the drowning of the entire Egyptian Army in the same sea.  They were given the law as a guide to live by. 

They would rather go back and live as slaves in Egypt than be free  in the desert with God’s provisions.  They were a nation of complainers rather than a nation of grateful people. They could not see that it was God who was protecting them from the enemies all around them.

Before you ever complain. Remember that there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world who would gladly change places with you.

UNBELIEF IS A HATEFUL THING

 Among hateful things unbelief is the most to be feared. Its injurious nature is the venom of a deadly snake that is hurtful  to you as a child of God and to Him that chose you before the foundation of the earth.  Unbelief  is   wicked, because it ignores the grace and mercies of the Lord that He has showered on our past. It  increases the guilt of doubting Him . When we distrust the Lord Jesus, we cause Him to withhold future favor to us. At the  tomb of Lazarus Jesus was grieved at their unbelief that He was the Lord of resurrection and life.

We are chosen as the bride of Christ. Our unbelief dishonors Him our bride groom who shed His blood on the cross for our salvation, 

It is saying to God, your good is not good enough. Your work in my life don’t please me. I wish you would give me what I want or let me get it for myself. Unbelief devalues the good in our do only to God  for a fantasy. 

The Israelites hated being in the desert, They never ceased  complaining  to God 

Ex 16:3 "If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt," they moaned. "There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death."

Their complaining was hurtful to them, their families and to God Almighty. They were free, but freedom has a cost and comes with responsibility. Freedom with God requires you to give up your agenda and take on His Agenda for your life. 

UNBELIEF IS A SIN

The sin is needless, foolish, and unwarranted. Jesus has never given us any reason to doubt Him. By His nature, His character, love for the Father and love for us, we have all evidence to believe in Him. Our conduct of unbelief is sin against the one true and living God. Jesus is the Son of the Highest, and has unlimited wealth. Unbelief is a waste of time and energy because it takes sides with the enemy of God who defeated him in the heavens and cast him as the father of darkness. We should never doubt an all powerful and all sufficient God. 

UNBELIEF IS A TRAITOR

Only you can get rid of the lying traitor unbelief with complete submission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan river, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil for forty days and forty nights. After which the flesh that embodied Him was weak. With power of the Word of truth He resisted the devil and he left him.The Word of God will triumph over unbelief every time its shows its ugly face. 

UNBELIEF IS DESTRUCTIVE

Ps 14:1  Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!

A  man without the Word of God travels blindly 

Hos 4:6 My people are being destroyed because they don't know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I forgot to bless your children

Your family and future generations of family may be affected by your unbelief.

1 Cor 10:13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you

Unbelief eliminates God’s help out of the situations you get in.

UNBELIEF IS INFECTIOUS 

• Unbelief affects those around you. When unbelief is in the mind, it is hard to remove it 

• Adam and Eve was told to be fruitful and multiply which they did. The question was Cain and Able their first children? God does not tell us. Cain was counseled by God about his anger but would not listen. He killed his brother and a nation of unbelievers were born 

• We are commanded to teach the word to our children Deu 6:7. Not teaching the word is unbelief

• Unbelief separates you from God 

• Unbelief in the promises of God separates the believers from blessing

• Unbelief hardens the heart

• Unbelief blinds you the spiritual insight

• Unbelief results in missed opportunities to experience God’s power and provisions. In Mark 6:5, In Jesus hometown, Nazareth, He could not do any miracles because of the people's unbelief.

THE BIBLE IS ACCURATE AND THE TRUTH TO BELIEVE

HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE SURVIVED OVER 4000 YEARS WITHOUT CHANGE? 

 ARCEOLOGY DATA SUPPORTS THE ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Quran caves  outside of Jerusalem in 1947

         They proved the accuracy of the Old Testament. There are fragments 

          Basically every book in the Old Testament. They are dated 300 years  

          before the birth of Christ and found to be word for word accuracy with  

          The current Old Testament.

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2. The Cyrus cylinder found in 1879  In 539 BEC, after conquering Babylonia, Cyrus II of Persia (Cyrus   the Great) permitted various religias the Cyrus Cylinder, was  discovered in March, 1879 in the foundation of the Ésagila temple in  Babylon by the Assyrian Christian Assyriologist and archaeologist      Hormuzd Rassamous groups, including perhaps 40,000 Jews, to return to their native land. Cyrus also issued a  declaration inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform on a clay cylinder. The   cylinder, which has become known 

3. The Pool of Saloam found in 2004 

• en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Pool_of_Siloam

• Pool of Siloam - Wikipedia

• The Pool of Siloam was built during the reign of Hezekiah (715–687/6 BCE) to leave besieging armies without access to the spring's waters. The newly constructed Siloam tunnel fed the pool.

The Siloam Pool has long been considered a sacred Christian site, even if the correct identification of the site itself was uncertain. According to the Gospel of John, it was at the Siloam Pool where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9:1–11). 

THE CURE FOR UNBELIEF

1. TRUST GOD

2. STUDY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORD

3. ACT ON THE WORD

4. FIND GOD’S PROMISE THAT FITS YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE

5. COUNT GOD’S BLESSINGS EACH DAY

6. DEVELOP AN ATTITUDE OF GRADITUDE

7. PLACE YOUR HOPE IN JESUS

The Bible is the only truth you can believe. To live without

Applying the word of God to your life is foolish. 

The devils job is to keep in doubt and to believe the lie 

That Jesus will not do what He promised you. The Bible is the printed word of God to prepare you to live an abundant life with overflowing love, peace, and joy full of assurance 

Hope in the Lord. It has been proven to be accurate.

The Lord wants to answer all our prayers, Faith is the answer.

Pray this prayer;

Mark 9:24  The father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!"

LORD IF YOU ARE WILLING YOU CAN HEAL ME

  

LORD IF YOU ARE WILLING 

Luke 5:12-16

12 In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. "Lord," he said, "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean."

13 Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 14 Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone what had happened. He said, "Go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed." 

15 But despite Jesus' instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

THE LAW OF MOSES

Lev 13:45 "As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' 46 "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp

Lev 14:2-3

"This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. Now he shall be brought to the priest, 

Lev 14:10-11

 "Now on the eighth day he is to take two male lambs without defect, and a yearling ewe lamb without defect, and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil; 11 and the priest who pronounces him clean 

THE CHARACTER OF SIN

Luke 5:12-15

The leper was an outcast. He was put out of the city. He lived alone.

He was considered dead to the community. Some may have thought his condition was a result of his sin (John 9:1-2).  He was left to die.

But he heard about Jesus. He believed in the the power of Jesus.

I. LEPROSY AFFORDS A STRIKING REPRESENTATION OF THE CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCE OF SIN.

1. This spiritual leprosy has rendered all our race unclean in the sight of God and in the judgment of His holy law.

(1) Sin shuts us out from His presence,

(2) Sin separates us  from a place among His people.

2. No skill or power of man can cure this disease which sin is

3. This disease, if not healed, will result in eternal death.  Death is not the cessation of being, but a state of awful terror, pain, and wretchedness. This is the issue to which sin is bringing its victims.

YOU HAVE HOPE BEFORE THE LORD, THERE IS A CURE

II. In God, our case is not altogether hopeless; there is a cure.

 OBSERVE THE STEPS TAKEN BY THIS LEPER TO OBTAIN A CURE. Thus we may learn what the disposition is, in which we should endeavour to approach the Saviour, who alone can heal our spiritual leprosy.

1. The first thing I would notice in this leper's conduct is the eagerness and haste with which he ran to Jesus immediately he met Him.

According to the Law he was not supposed to be in the city. According the Law he was to announce himself to be unclean to any one approaching him.  don’t let anything keep you from getting to Jesus, The world my write you of but Jesus does not 

2. The leper humbled himself before the Lord. . His eagerness in seeking relief did not cause him to forget what was due to the character of Jesus from whom that relief was sought.

3. The confidence he entertained of Christ's power. Have not we far stronger grounds for this than he had?

Luke 5:16-17; Luke 5:16-17

Vers. 16, 17. And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed. --

Jesus praying: -- What were the special reasons which led our Lord at this time to go away for prayer.

I. THE NEED OF INWARD REFRESHMENT OF WHICH HE MUST HAVE BEEN CONSCIOUS.

1. Christ was full of the truest, tenderest sympathy.

2. His sympathy was invariably practical

3. It was intensely personal; general enough to embrace the multitude; particular enough to fix itself on the individual. We can imagine, therefore, how exhausted He must have been.

II. THE FEELING OF SADNESS WHICH CAME TO HIM IN VIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL APATHY OF THE MULTITUDES WHO WERE SO EAGERLY SEEKING HIM. If we are deeply concerned for the spiritual welfare of men we shall feel something of the same sadness.

III. HIS CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE DANGER TO HIS SPIRITUAL MISSION WHICH WOULD ARISE FROM A PREMATURE POPULARITY. Prayer is the only true preservative against the perils of success. Because of our success we are in danger --

1. Of rushing on too fast.

2. Of becoming self-dependent.

3. Of growing unsympathetic.

DON’T LET YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE STOP YOU FROM SEEKING JESUS

Luke 5:12-13

12 In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. "Lord," he said, "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean."

There was a law concerning leprosy. I believe the as best he could followed the law.

Lev 13:45 "As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' 46 "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp

The man came seeking Jesus inside the village which was a violation of the Law of Moses. According to the law a leper was to be outside the village. 

When approached by anyone he was required to cry out unclean!,                   unclean !

Apparently the man had heard that Jesus was in the village, ignored the law and came seeking Jesus. He had nothing to lose, but everything to gain. 

BELIEVED THE REPORT ABOUT JESUS  APPLIES TO YOU

I am sure if you were suffering from an incurable disease and heard about a doctor that cured others, you would make an appointment. 

We have the report in the Bible about the healing power of Jesus. He healed untold number of people of all kinds of illnesses. In many cases he told the one who came to Him that their faith in Him made them well. He did not require an appointment or a price. The only requirement was to seek Him by faith. 

The Lord is the same today as yesterday. He is no respecter of person. 

Your prayers by faith activates God’s healing. He made you and know all about you. Your condition is know surprise to Him. There is nothing too hard that He can’t handle and nothing to small for him not to concider

HONOR THE LORD WITH PRAYER AND CONFIDENSE

While the man was an outcast,  he knew the power of Jesus. He was forced to live in isolation but he knew the proper way to honor the Lord. This indicates he was a religious man and believed in God’s commands. He bowed to the ground and beg for a healing. He expressed confidence in the power of Jesus. He didn’t have the power, the doctors didn’t have the power, the priest didn't have the power, but he knew Jesus had the power.

When you bring your prayer request to Jesus, come with confidence that He will heal you. He said; if you are willing, you can heal me.

The Word says bring you prayers and petitions to Him with thanksgiving

WAIT ON THE LORD TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYER

Luke 5:13-14

13 Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

When you take your prayers to Jesus, wait on His timing. Jesus can heal instantly or  he may wait till another time when others can witness the miracle and God gets the Glory, 

Notice Jesus touched the man and he was healed. Don’t limit God's healing by your way of thinking. God can heal by thought, by touch or through the hands of a doctor. Gods healing power is activated  in your prayer life.

It was the man who reached out to Jesus. It was the man who humbled himself before the Lord. It was man who worshipped the Lord in prayer.

It was the man who bowed down in humble submission. It was the man who expressed confidence in the power of Jesus. 

Jesus recognized the man's faith and determination to be healed. The community had given up on him. The religious leaders had given up on him. The family had given up on him. No one came interceding for him. He represented himself in character and position. 

Don’t ever give up on Jesus. The Lord has the last say. Your situation is never hopeless with the Lord

AN IMPOSSIBLE REQUEST

Luke 5:14

14 Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone what had happened. He said, "Go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed." 

Can you imagine the excitement of the man with leprosy when he looked at his hands, legs, and felt his face and all the sores were gone and he was completely healed. Because he was touched by Jesus he was no longer an outcast. I don’t know about you but I would want to shout and tell the world.

But Jesus said tell no one. He had to go to the temple in Jerusalem and

Show himself to the priest to be certified clean. The people in the temple may have known him.

Along the way to the temple the healed man had to acquire two sparrows and two lambs for a sacrificial ceremony. An 8 to 10 day cleaning process involving the seller of animals, and several Priests.  I have often heard that if something is known by more than one person, it is not a secret.  

I believe the average person would want to know how he got  cleaned and who was involved, and where did the cure take place

When he was declared clean by the priest, could the man who was now clean tell some body. It was an impossible request.

Apparently there are some things God does not want us to reveal to others until the right time. This request Jesus made to man healed to tell no one was a test of his obedience, a test of his gratefulness and a test of his patience.  Some times God test us before the healing. The problem we face may be designed to grow our faith.

At 30 years old Jesus was Baptized by John the Baptist and immediately led to the desert to be tested by the devil for 40 days and nights. The devil

Tempted Him three times to break His faith, but Jesus responded each time with the scripture. 

The devil is relentless in his effort to

 It is easy to say you trust God until you get into a situation where you are required to trust Him

YOUR TESTIMONY IS IMPORTANT

Luke 5:14

This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed." 

This seems at first to be confusing. Tell no one, but you will have a public testimony of the healing by Jesus.

Jesus told the cured man not to say anything, but he had to tell the priest. His cleanliness would have been noticed by the  seller of the sacrificial animals. He would have passed   people in his village that would have noticed he was healed. We are not told how the cured man story got publicized.  

The story could have been spread by someone who witnessed the healing, the seller of the animals, or by the priest. God does not tell us

YOUR PUBLIC TESTIMONY WILL GIVE OTHER PEOPLE HOPE

Luke 5:15 But despite Jesus' instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

The text did not say the cured man told anyone. It does say someone witnessed the cure.  Someone is always watching you. Someone may have’heard the man with leprosy call out to Jesus and saw him cured. 

We don’t know, Jesus did not elaborate. 

It does say Jesus does not deny anyone who comes to Him,

The news of lepers healing spread and many came to be healed.

His healing was a testimony that got other excited about Jesus

Jesus spent time in prayer with the Father. This was a long day

That required much work from Jesus. There are time when we need alone time with the Father in prayer, to get refreshed, revitalized and get new directions.

GET READY FOR YOUR FAMILY REUNION Genesis 33:1-10

 FAMILY REUNION   GEN 33: 3-8   

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT 

Family is God’s premier divine institution. He spoke everything into existence. But He took special time to make all of us in His own image and likeness. He didn’t make anything else in creation to be like Him, Not even angels

From two people, Adam and Eve there over 8 billion  around the world

God loves family reunions.  We all got a place in that great family reunion planned when Jesus returns.

Did you know that God started the writing of the Bible, the Old Testament with the remembrance of a family reunion?  It in Exodus read it for yourself.  The nation of Israel was born in 400 years of slavery in Egypt.  God sent Moses to perform 10 plagues to get Israel released from Egypt.  It was the last plague that got Israel released. The first born son of every Egyptian was killed.

But every Israelite family was spared who had the blood of lamb on

Their door post. The death angel passed over them. 

That was a foreshadowing of what Jesus did for you and me. 

All throughout the Old Testament the Jews went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. It was a family reunion.  Some traveled 100 miles on foot. When Jesus was growing up He went to the passover festival with His family. Every Sunday Morning for us is a family reunion.

 We got one final family reunion that we are all invited to.  I want hear Jesus say come on in, well done.

I want to spend a few minutes talking about one of the notable 

Family reunion in the Old Testament . It a family reunion between

The families of Esau and Jacob.

Issac the Son of Abraham and Rebekah had two twin sons,  Esau was born  first, and Jacob was born holding on to the foot of Esau.

Esau, a few minutes older, was  by tradition the one who would inherit the Family fortune when the father died. That time came.

 I want to make 3 points about the families of Jacob and Esau meeting after being apart for over 20 years. Find the story in Genesis 27 -33

1. It is God who put in the hearts of people like Allison and Her crew 

    To bring family members together. You are the vessels God used.

2. Family reunions are a time to catch up on what has happened in the lives of members and meet new members.

3. A Family reunion is a time to bury the hatched, forgive and forget past hurts and unify together as one.

THE STORY 

Issac and Rebecka, after years of trying, had twin sons Esau and Jacob. Esau was born hairy and red. He was a man’s man. Loved the outdoors; A game hunter.  He was favored by  Issac.

Jacob on the other hand was a momma boy. He hung around his momma and learned how to cook. He was momma's favorite.  

You can imagine there was some friction in the family

Esau being a man’s man loved foreign girls outside his race. Women

Whose families worshiped idol gods. This was not pleasing to momma

And against God’s commands. 

When Issac was old, blind and about to die, he called Esau in and told

Him, he would be blessed with the family fortune.  Issac wanted one last meal  made of game Esau would kill. 

When Rebecka heard it she got with Jacob and told him go kill a sheep. I will make some stew. Your dad can’t see but he can feel. We will disguise you as Esau by putting sheep skin around your arms.

That was done and Jacob was blessed with family fortune before

Esau got back with a game he killed. Esau got angry and Jacob was sent away to save his life.

GOD ALLOWS YOU TO TROUBLE YOUR LIFE FOR HIS GLORY

It would appear that Rebekah and Jacob joined together to trick Esau.  Not so

• Esau was planned from birth to be the unrighteous nation

• Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew

• Esau disqualified himself by associating with women who                                                                   worshiped idol gods 

• Isaac blinded by his favoritism for Esau would have violated God’s                                                        command

• Rebekah preserved the family name and the command of God with                                                                       what she did for Jacob 

• On the way to his uncle Laban’s house Jacob met God in a dream

• Gen 28:12  As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven.

• God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth!

GOD HAS A BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FAMILY UNITY

• Jacob was prideful, boastful and fearful when he left his momma headed to his uncle's place

• He met God on the way out;Gen 28:12  As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven.                                            And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.

• Gen 28:13-14  "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you                                                      are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.

• 20 years of life happened. He was trained by circumstances

• Jacob met God on the way back home: Gen 31:1

•  Then in my dream, the angel of God said to me, Gen 31:13

•  I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, the place where you anointed the pillar of stone and made your vow to me.                                           Now get ready and leave this country and return to the land of your birth.'"

• BASIC TRAINING COMPLETE

• Gen 32:24-25  a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break..Gen 32:28  "Your name will no longer be Jacob,"   the man told him. "From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won."

• Jacob was now ready to be the Patriarch of the Nation  

• YOUR LIFE IS A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR GOD

THE FAMILY REUNION

20 years later Jacob was blessed with two wives, to wives maidens and between the four women had 12 sons.   And many  livestock. He decided to return home.

On the way back Jacob got the word that Esau was coming with an army. Fearing Esau would kill him and his family, he stayed up all night to get a plan to save his  family. He made up his mind he was going to face the music. He did the deed,  now he had a price to pay.

Jacob had been caring that burden for 20 years, 

IN THE SPIRIT OF RECONCILIATION, HUMBLE YOURSELF

Gen 33:3-4

 Then Jacob went on ahead with his family following.  As he approached his brother, he bowed to the ground seven times before him. 4 Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.

Gen 33:5 Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, "Who are these people with you?"

"These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant," Jacob replied.

Watch this, Jacob would rather serve his brother than endanger the lives of His family

Gen 33:8 "And what were all the flocks and herds I met as I came?" Esau asked. Jacob replied, "They are a gift, my lord, to ensure your friendship ."9 "My brother, I have plenty," Esau answered. "Keep what you have for yourself."

Jacob laid it on pretty thick  Call his brother lord.  Still was not sure he was hearing what he heard. Didn’t trust his brother motive

Esau came with 400 men

I want you to notice something.  20 years earlier Jacob ran to save his life

 In the spirit of reconciliation, Jacob presented himself as a servant to his brother and brought a gift of reconciliation. 

Talking about. kissing some you know what, Jacob laid it on thick

TRUST GOD WITH YOUR PROBLEMS

While Jacob was worried about meeting his brother. God had already

Worked it out. God can soften the heart of your worst enemy

Jacob had been carrying this burden for 20 years. But Easu had moved on.

SUMMARY

1. God is pleased when we come together as a family unit

   He ordained family reunions

   All throughout the Old Testament Israel was required to go to

   Jerusalem to celebrate the passover. It was a good old fashioned    

   family reunion

   God expects us to show up for worship on Sunday Morning

 Look Jacob showed up with an offering, a gift of reconciliation. 

God expects us to come with gift. 

2. Family Reunion is the time to catch up on each other and meet new family members

Esau said who are these people you brought with you 

I said to my wife I got a lot of family members to get to know

Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons , grand and great grand I never met.  We got a strong family unit

3. Family Reunions is a time to forgive and forget old hurts and enjoy each other.

That is what Jesus did on the cross for us.  He settled the sin issues 

He settled all hurts and pain. He settled every jealous and envious attitude . With arms stressed  wide with His last breath He said

Its finished  

We got one last family reunion to attend. We going to meet up with

Jesus in the sky. He going take into the  heavenly family reunion

Come on in well done

He cast our sin as for as the east is from the west. God chose to forget your sins. We have to choose to be at peace with each other 

 

PSALMS 133:1  Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!