Pray for Families

by Raphael Mnkandhla

At City Church, we believe that the Church is only as strong as their individual families. While the necessity of the local Church cannot be overemphasized, the depth of a local church body is dependent on the depth of the individual families that make up that Church.

The Bible is very direct in relating the local Church to the familial Church, even calling the local Church the "household of God" (1 Timothy 3:14-15)." This implies that godly families become a living illustration of what the Church is to be like as a whole.

Therefore, the family is very important to God and to the church.

Could you imagine with me what would happen if our Community had:

• God pursuing, truth-seeking, family-loving men who :

  • Serve their wives and children as pastors.

  • Embody Christ and take the responsibility for the spiritual climate of their home.

  • Look to Christ who sacrificially loved the Church his bride, championing her flourishing and turn around and do the same. ( Ephesians 5:22-33)

  • Seek to be leaders in the home before they lead in the Church (1 Timothy 3:4-5), studying their Bibles and praying with their wives and children and not provoking their children to anger. ( Gal 6:4).

• God pursuing, truth-seeking, family-loving women who :

  • See their families as both a gift and a platform to parade God's glory.

  • Respect and support their husbands as to the head. ( Ephesians 5:22-33)

  • Nurture their children.

  • Model before them and pass on to them a sincere faith in the way Timothy's grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice did for him ( 1 Tim 1: 5)

  • Know they are called to be good stewards of their family resources, talents, and time.

• God pursuing, truth-seeking children who :

  • Are obedient to their parents.

  • Live christ-centered and God-glorifying lives.

• God pursuing, truth-seeking parents who :

  • Understand that the local Church is AN influence in a child's life while they are THE influence.

  • Believe that the primary spiritual shaping force in a child's life is the family, not the local Church (consider Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

• God pursuing, truth-seeking families that :

  • Embrace mission together to embody Christ's love

  • Become havens of blessing by being a family the lost, broken, orphaned, or displaced.

Having imagined that, would you join me in praying that God would make this possible through his Son and abiding Spirit. Christ is the model and motivator of all he calls us to do. Apart from him, we can do nothing, ( John 15:5) but with him, we will do valiantly. ( Psalm 60:12, 108:13)