The Bible has some great biographies.
You can see the entire arch of their lives.
Today, I want to look at Jesus's family.
Jesus was single, and didn't have kids.
Luke wrote about it. He was a historian and a doctor. He tells us this story about Jesus's childhood.
Luke 2:41-49 (NIRV)
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.
42 When Jesus was 12 years old, they went up to the feast as usual.
43 After the feast was over, his parents left to go back home.
The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.
But they were not aware of it.
44 They thought he was somewhere in their group.
So they traveled on for a day.
Then they began to look for him among their relatives and friends.
45 They did not find him.
So they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
46 After three days they found him in the temple courtyard.
He was sitting with the teachers.
He was listening to them and asking them questions.
47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at how much he understood.
They also were amazed at his answers.
48 When his parents saw him, they were amazed.
His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this?
Your father and I have been worried about you.
We have been looking for you everywhere.”
49 “Why were you looking for me?” he asked.
“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
Jesus had a family with a tradition of going to Jerusalem.
Every family should have traditions.
His parents made a mistake. It was the first Home Alone story. He was left in Jerusalem by Himself as a 12 year old.
His parents were not perfect.
When you are wrong, tell your children.
"I was wrong".
"Will you forgive me?"
It's not too late to call and apologize to your grown kids.
Back to our story about Jesus.
After three days, they found Jesus.
His mother said why have your treated us like this?
Jesus didn't go to school, but Jesus was very unusual from the beginning.
His parents were good to their kids.
His parents had prepared Him.
He was left behind for three days.
He did just fine.
A parent's job is to raise competent adults one day, and that's exactly what they did.
In our day and age, we have tried to keep our kids safe, but we can overdo it.
We want our kids to be strong, but we've got to take risk.
If we don't, they won't be strong.
The risks gets bigger the older that they get.
Risk brings confidence and reveals competence.
Jesus knew He could handle His situation.
How are you raising competence in your kids?
When you have an issue, is it a problem to solve or a tension to manage?
In our day and age, we have all this access to credit.
We need to solve our problems with a budget not with credit.
We need to adjust down and live within our means.
Another area of concern is over scheduling.
Budget your time as well as your money.
Mary and Joseph raised Jesus, so He could thrive as a 12 year old.
About 10 years ago, the I-phone was invented.
How old is the right age to have a phone?
Kids start getting phones around 10.
About the age of 11, we noticed that our child was losing her friends because she was being left out without having a phone.
The smart phone came around.
The promise was that we could be connected in various ways.
The truth was it isolates.
We can stream three seasons of our favorite shows instead of interacting with our friends.
We can just sit by our self and watch our phone.
In social media, there is bullying.
We can see an increase in bullying especially with girls.
Boy's bullying is physical.
Girls bully with words.
That's why the girls are getting hit harder with social media than boys.
In social media, we show our best self.
We only show what we're proud of sharing.
If we've stayed at a great hotel, we show it on facebook; however,if we stayed at a lessor hotel, we don't show it.
It creates a fear of missing out.
You see all the things that you're not invited too.
We can see all our friends at someone house, but we're not there.
It can happen three or four times a week with teens.
This is creating a perfect storm in our teen's life.
Among adults it is showing a 40% level of lonliness and suicide.
Where suicide is peaking is getting younger and younger.
This is a tension to manage.
As a parent, we should educate our children to be the expert of these things.
Teach them how to manage it.
Train them to make great decisions.
Like Vaping.
One more thing real quick.
Have the conversation.
If you claim the name of Christ, you're kids must not practice bullying.
Back to the story about Jesus.
This day in Jesus' life in Luke's story was the last day we hear of Him as a child.
Most scholars believe that Joseph died while Jesus was a kid.
We serve a God who understands our pain.
He had to care for His mom.
Later in Jesus's life, He had begun His ministry, and this happened.
Mark 3:31-35 (NIRV)
31 Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside.
They sent someone in to get him.
32 A crowd was sitting around Jesus.
They told him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside.
They are looking for you.”
33 “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then Jesus looked at the people sitting in a circle around him.
He said, “Here is my mother!
Here are my brothers!
35 Anyone who does what God wants is my brother or sister or mother.”
Jesus lived at a very dangerous time.
His family realized what Jesus was teaching could cost Him His life.
Jesus had begun to shift to a new community of faith whom He too considered family.
Jesus at that point no longer had a home.
He needed family.
He didn't even have a place to stay.
Matthew 8:20 (NIRV)
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens.
Birds have nests.
But the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Some times you have a family like Jesus did.
Most adults won't talk about their disappointments and dreams because their dreams didn't work out.
We get one spin around what we call life.
We don't control what happens to us.
We can influence it.
We can influence whom we go through this life with.
We need family to go through this life with.
We need someone to pray with us.
Someone to celebrate with us.
Don't walk through this life by yourself.
We were never meant to be in a big crowd who just sits next to each other.
We were meant to be in a faith family.
We've got to figure it out.
I believe that it can happen.
Lord will you help us to forge great family together.
Lord will you help us to invite our church family into our lives.
Lord please let us be connected to each other.
Steve Gillian, Willowcreek Church
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