Thank you, Adrie, for that. Take your Bibles, if you would, please, and join with me tonight in the Gospel of Mark as we kind of continue to work our way through the Lord's journey as recorded in Mark. We come to, I think, a quite, at least for me, a passage that kind of highlights what I want to say, kind of the pressures you might say of life at present. Mark chapter 3 verse 31, to the end of the chapter. All right, Mark 3, 31. There came then his brethren and his mother standing without, sent unto them calling him. And the multitude said about him, and they said unto him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them saying, Who is my mother or my brethren? And he looked round about on them, which sat about him and said, behold, my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother and my sister and mother. Let's pray, shall we? Father, we thank you for this day and the privilege to be here tonight. And I ask that you would guide and direct, help each and every one. Father, may we give attention to your word. I pray you'd help me, give me the right words to speak. that you might use them in a way that would help each one in whatever it is that they may be facing in their life. Use your word, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Brother Hoover's session that he was preaching, he mentioned about being in a meeting, have you ever been in a meeting, and their cell phone went off? And they said, sorry, I gotta take this. Yeah, wasn't that you preaching that? I thought you were saying something about that in your session. Anyways, whoever it was, whichever preacher it was, I remember before the days when everybody had a cell phone in their pocket, I had just become the pastor at Union Baptist Chapel in Decatur, Illinois. I think it was a Sunday evening, And it was right about this moment in the service. And the church phone was ringing. And too bad, it's gonna ring. But one of the ladies, obviously was irritated by the phone ringing, and went into my, we didn't have a church office, so it was in my study, so she went in my study, answered the phone. She came in, interrupted me and said, it's your mother. I said, excuse me, I have to take this. It was my mom. I'm not going to, you know, whatever the phrase is today, ghost or whatever that phrase is when you don't answer people's phone calls. I wasn't going to do that to my mom. I don't remember if it was important or not, but it doesn't make any difference because it was my mother. Family. In this, these short few verses, he's talking about family. Now, that wasn't the topic of the study. In fact, go to Matthew chapter 12. That's kind of a parallel section. And Mark doesn't record this portion of the study, the talk, the preaching, you know, when Jesus, we looked at about, you know, he was being accused of the prince of devils and all that kind of business. We looked at that last time, okay. But after he gets done with that, there's something else that he discusses, but Mark doesn't record that, but Matthew does. And he's talking about the sign of Jonas, and Nineveh, and his return, and so forth. And then there's this interaction. So Jesus is not, he's not in a deep dive study on the family. It just comes up as a matter of course, because as he's teaching, then it's his mom and his siblings. In one place it mentions sisters in this incident. He mentioned sisters a little bit afterwards, but it was his brothers and his sisters. The point is it's his family. Now, they're on the outside, it says, then came his brethren and his mother and standing without. We're not sure if he's in the house and the house is jam-packed or there's so many people they went to the court, whatever the case may be, they're either outside the house or they're outside the boundaries of the crowd. They're on the edge. and they're trying to get to Jesus. Now, why are they trying to get to Jesus? Some think it has to do with his friends up there in verse 21 that said they came to lay hold on him because they thought he was, you know, he's gone crazy or something. I have a hard time thinking that Mary thinks Jesus has gone crazy or lost himself. That doesn't seem right to me. It could be as a mother, she's just concerned about his health. You know, I mean, there's so many they can't even eat, they can't rest. We read about that in other places as well. Maybe there's a family emergency. I mean, we're not really told, are we? It doesn't clearly say why they're standing without and they need to see him. But family's there. And maybe this is highlighted for me because of what's happening in our family and having to travel back for a funeral. And I think most of us are familiar with those kinds of events that come into our family and we need to respond. And so that's kind of how it is. Let me say, I didn't get to give a testimony, but I want to just say how thankful I am for our church family And just, I know you've heard it many, many times, how blessed we are. Here I'm trying to arrange this funeral service, and I do not know the availability at the host church for musicians, et cetera. We're just so used to when we have a funeral, I could just call Rick and he says, yep, okay, I'll be there. If there's a congregational song, he's gonna lead, Don's coming along, they're like a pair. And that's how it ought to be, husband and wife working together, amen. And if she's not available, then I know there are several pianists in our church. And we can phenomenally provide music for a funeral or a special event of some sort. And that is a huge, huge blessing. I just want you to know that folks who come to us, that maybe we host something like that, I don't think they realize how blessed we are that we can provide that service. And thank you, church family, for that. Well, we know the family is important to the Lord. We can just go through his word and find all kinds of references of the family, how we ought to function as a family, all the proverbs that talk about following the wisdom of your father and your mother and things like that. And I don't think it's any coincidence When we think about our church family, the family of God, I sometimes think we use that phrase or those terms, calling each other brother, sister, et cetera, and it's just kind of what we do. Last Thursday was the meeting for the American Legion And Rick got me into that. So we had officer's election last Thursday. And they needed a new commander? Commandant? What is his title? Commander. So I nominated Rick. He's the new... I haven't told my wife yet, because then Rick turned around in vengeance and nominated me for an office. So, anyways. What was I going to say? Oh, I was like, where am I? I'm scatterbrained, sorry. Because we had had a private conversation about what in the world does the Legion do? So I don't know how long I've been going. Not quite, well, maybe a year, something like that. And I'd come back and Bridget would say, so what'd you guys do? Well, we talked about a fundraiser. The next month would come by and, what did you guys do? I had a cup of coffee and a cookie. And we talked about a fundraiser. She said, is that all you guys do? What are you fundraising for? And I had to tell her, I don't know. So Rick brings up in the meeting about, man, we need something to tell us we know what we're supposed to do as a legion. So that's why I nominated, hey, that's right, you need somebody in charge. So then I got roped in to have a spot too. I'm mentioning that because sometimes we use those terms, church, family, brother, sister, et cetera, in such a loose way, potentially we lose what the depth of that meaning actually is. It just becomes casual things we say. And if we're a family, when you go to a family event and family members are missing, do you notice that they're missing? Yeah, like where's Uncle Charlie? Or whatever. Hmm, where is he? And because they're family, that doesn't mean everything's right about our family. Yeah, amen, amen. Everybody has crazy uncles and, you know, things like that. People are like, oh, here he comes again. But you love him because they're family. They're family. And we're a family. I said to Carolyn this morning, I said, hey, where's your sister? Meaning Abigail, because Abigail wasn't, yeah, no, I saw her, I saw her. Yeah, she's waving, okay. I said, tell your sister I said hi, because I missed her. She wasn't here this morning, I noticed. And when you're not here, I notice when you're not here. Now, I don't necessarily call you on the phone and pester you. But I notice. And you're missed. Because we're family. We're family. All right, that being said, I want you to notice here, these few verses, just a few thoughts. Family relations. Family relations. Something we don't think about. It doesn't dawn on us necessarily. It says, There came then his brethren and his mother. Go to chapter 6, if you would, and look at verse 3. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Moses and of Judah and Simon? And are not his sisters, plural, here with us? And they were offended at him." Carolyn, how many siblings do you have? Five. Jesus had at least six. I'm mentioning it to Carolyn because she's the oldest. Right? Yeah. Jesus was the oldest. of at least seven children. Now obviously, circumstances around the birth of Christ are special, amen. We recognize that. But in an earthly setting, he's the oldest son of seven brothers and sisters. I don't know what that's like because I was the youngest of only three. Some of you know what that's like to be in a very large family with a lot of brothers and sisters. And that's all I'm highlighting is Jesus grew up in a very large family. When they went to Jerusalem when he was 12 years old, if the statistical pattern was followed, Does that make sense? How old was he? Twelve. He was twelve. And if he has six siblings, and I'm not sure the order of their ages, because we're not told that. He's twelve. Two years after, you know, ten. A sibling at ten. 8, 6, 4, 2. Potentially, when they go to Jerusalem, when he's 12, in essence it's like his bar mitzvah time, there's already five siblings and one of them is only two years old. No wonder Mary and Joseph lost sight of him. You know, I mean, they're busy, jeans and diapers and all that kind of business. Can I, you know, yeah, fine, fine, just don't get in trouble. And they just assume and their hands are full. Jesus knows what that's, what's it like to grow up in a large family. and to have all that interaction. And as the oldest, he would understand what it's like then to have the obligations and the influence of the oldest of the siblings, the one that typically gets leaned on by mom and dad to kind of be in charge if they can't be there. And they look at the younger ones and say, now you do what your brother says. Mom and dad never said that to me about my brother, because they knew that wasn't going to work. I mean, they might as well, if they said, you better do what your sister says, oh yeah, my sister would whoop me bad. So she was the older sister and she would keep me in line. But my brother, no, we just would duke it out and create havoc. So I'm just highlighting something very simple to us. Because we know Jesus is the Son of God. He's the Savior. He's sinless. And yet that doesn't mean he doesn't have the normal human interactions and relationships, though without sin. So all of you who have brothers and sisters, Jesus knows exactly what that's like and how that works. He understands that. Now, family brings obligation, doesn't it? That wasn't a very positive affirmation there. My family don't give me no obligations. I'm wrong. But I think, biblically, family brings obligations. There's an obligation to your family. in many ways. Let me just illustrate. I mentioned Proverbs, so let's turn there. We're just going to flip through and quickly work through a few things. Not every proverb about family or highlights family, but just enough to help us grasp something. Proverbs 4, verse 1. It says, Here ye children the instruction of a father, and attend to no understanding, for I give you good doctrine. Forsake ye not my law, for I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words, keep my commandments, and live." There's an obligation, an obligation to our parents, which also means there's an obligation of our parents to us. as I read this morning in Sunday school, in that old little track I had about Sunday school, a nation's first defense, or something, a title, something like that. And the author writes about how every child needs to be instructed in the things of God, and every parent is required to ensure their children get that instruction. The obligation goes both ways. And so here Solomon's saying that. Go to chapter 6 and look at verse 20. Again, he says, My son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. Chapter 13, verse 1. A wise son heareth his father's instruction, but a scorner heareth not rebuke. And I just remind you, when the Bible talks about hearing, it means hearing and responding. This doesn't mean audible function of the, you know, all the intricacies of your ear. It means you heard what was said, you responded appropriately to what you heard. That's biblical hearing. Chapter 15 and verse 5, he says, a fool despiseth his father's instruction. but he that regardeth through proof is prudent. Chapter, should be 17 in verse 10, if I have this. No, that's not correct. Okay, it must be seven in verse 10. No, that's not right. So we'll skip that and go then, skip out of the Proverbs, go to John 19. And I'm just highlighting an important fact, and that is, family brings obligations, because they're family. That was important to Jesus, because as He's on the cross, dying for the sins of the world, including us, amen? It says in verse 26, when Jesus therefore saw His mother, And the disciple standing by, that's a reference to John the Beloved, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her unto his own home. Jesus, even as he hung upon the cross for the entire world, did not forget his earthly obligations to his family. So this is important based upon what Jesus is about to say. First Timothy five and verse eight says, but if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. I think we recognize, do we not, biblically the importance of our obligations to our family. Even our family that maybe isn't saved or not living right, they're still our family. how we interact with them and how we fulfill that obligation will be tempered or adjusted based upon their relationship to God, but still that obligation remains. And that's important because here's Jesus talking and he's interrupted and a messenger, somehow the message gets to Jesus, maybe they couldn't get there, the crowd is so tight, and so they whisper, tell them we're out here, we need to see them. Okay, and they pass it up, pass it up, pass it up, pass it up, till finally, somebody maybe raises their hand and says, Master, your mom and your siblings are out, and they need to talk to you. And Jesus makes a statement here that if we're not careful, if we don't balance it with the things that we've already just looked at in Scripture, just casually, about family obligations and how important that is, it almost seems as if Jesus becomes dismissive. But that's not what he's doing. He's using the event as a teaching moment. Isn't it interesting that Though he had four brothers, he doesn't commend Mary's care to the hand of his four brothers. He commends her to John the Beloved. Remember I said how you fulfill those family obligations will be flavored and tempered based upon your relationship to the Lord and their relationship to the Lord. At that point his brothers were not believers. But John the Beloved was. And Mary was. So he didn't commend his mother into the care of unsaved men. Even though they were his brothers. He commended her to the care of his brother in faith, if I can say it that way. But my point is it was still important to him. Family obligations were very important that he fulfilled. Because the message comes, they're without, and they're seeking you. And look at what Jesus says, and he answered them saying, who is my mother or my brethren? In essence, it says in your bulletin, who is my family? Who is my family? And he looked round about and there in Matthew chapter 12, that parallel passage, when it says that he looks round about upon those that sat about him and said, in Matthew we find that he points to his disciples. And he specifically, it's not the crowd in general, it's not all those who are there, some of them are there just because there's always a crowd around Jesus, a crowd of rubberneckers, they just want to see what's going on. And so he's not pointing to the crowd in general, he's pointing specifically to his disciples more than likely limiting that to his apostles, who in this very same chapter, he just chose them, didn't he? Back there in verse 11, he went up to a mountain and called unto him whom he would. And they came down, he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach. So from that point forward, there's a very special relationship between Jesus and those twelve. Even though one of them was the traitor, but there was a special kind of bond there. And in Matthew 12, he points specifically to his disciples. And he says, behold, my mother and my brethren. In essence, what he's saying, this is my family. This is the priority. He's not negating normal family obligations. But he is specifically highlighting a family exultation. There was a different relationship with them than there was with his own relatives. It was different. It was on a different plane. And I think that's important for us to understand. There was a higher priority. That higher priority brings a higher cost. And later on in Mark, Mark 10 29, and Jesus answered and said, because this is when he's talking about being a disciple indeed and leaving father and mother and everything and following me. And Peter's like, well, what about us? We've left everything. And Jesus answers and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house or, notice, brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children. lands But notice how he mentions all those human relationships For my sake and the Gospels and the next verse talks about how will we will be repaid? Beyond understanding The those will be replaced If your family It's unsaved. Okay, let's create a scenario. You get saved, and you come from a family of drunks. And they remain drunks, and they reject any message of the gospel you may try to give them, and they mock you, and try to shame you, and try to deceive you, and try to draw you back into that lifestyle, and you're like, no, no, I'm not And it may get to the point where you say, you know what, I can't even go see my family anymore. Because it's not good, I can't do it. But see, if you're part of a Bible preaching church, not just a member of an organization, it's not like just a member of a club. It's beyond that. You have a new family. a new family. Now I'm taking off tomorrow to drive to Michigan to pick up my wife and preach a funeral for my brother-in-law, because that's family obligation. Obviously I need to go pick up my wife. I said something, and she said, Well, you better be coming back. Yes, sweetheart, I'm coming. I'm coming to get you. But there's a lot of family, and my one brother-in-law might even be watching. I don't know. Sometimes he watches the stream. But there will be some there that are not saved. And I wish I could say that I knew all the family very well. I don't. I think you understand what I'm saying. They're living a different kind of life. You know, it's not like they're a bunch of drug cartels or nothing. I'm not implying that, but they have different kinds of life going on. And I'm here and they're there and Bridget's here and they're there and she knows all their names and all their birthdays and everything about them. And I can't keep, it's like more confusing to me than, you know, the first round draft for the NFL or something. It's like, I can't keep track of all that. Way too, I mean, there were eight kids in her family and her mother came from, I think a family of 10. So there's like, It's like Prairie Dog Town. It's like everywhere. That wasn't very nice, was it? Sorry. You get the idea, though. Here we are at our wedding, right? We're at our wedding, and this gal walks in the back. She rode my bus to school. And I thought she was a... Sorry, if you're watching. This is a high school kid. In high school, I thought, she's a weirdo. So here, now I'm getting married, right? And she comes in like, who invited her? And Bridget says to me, well, that's my cousin. What? So me, they're like, everywhere. Where was I going with that? I'm getting in trouble. Family. We have family that maybe is not living for the Lord. They may not be saved and they may not be living for the Lord. But there ought to be a relationship with those who know the Lord and who specifically, not just Christians in general, but our church family. This is the people we gather with every Sunday and we worship God together. and we commit ourselves together for the furtherance of the gospel in this place and through this place around the world. There's something that binds us and it's just not a name, it's not a logo, it's the Lord. And if we would recognize the obligation we have to our earthly family, and rightfully so. But Jesus himself is highlighting the fact that, listen, there is a relationship that actually, it doesn't supersede, it doesn't substitute earthly family, but it's at a higher plane. There's an obligation and a bond there that we have just as much an obligation to be a part of. And when we have that kind of a recognition, which brings a sense of unity amongst God's people, that it will multiply in a way that we can't understand. It will multiply the effectiveness of the gospel through us. If all we do is come and listen, like Rick and I, and Rennell, and Don, it's becoming like the First Baptist Legion meeting. Might get me in trouble, I don't know. But hey, you know, it's open for veterans. So there's a couple more veterans there. I know, it's, Ryker, would you tell me something about the, there's a Marine thing, it's, that's the, yeah, that's for the old guys, or something like that. We got Marines too, you know. Anyways. Leroy, Norm, there you go. I'll stop there so I don't embarrass anybody. We can have a great impact. My point is, this isn't just a service organization. This is a spiritual organism. And we are a church family. And we ought to care for one another. We ought to pray for one another. We ought to be attendant when we gather. Because God's meeting with us. And I don't know if you're... How do I wanna say this in the right way? We talk about revival, don't we? And Brother Hoover, you've been talking about that lately, I think more intently, praying for revival. But that's never gonna come. if church is just a service organization. If it's just the it's it's the place I come to to scratch my spiritual itch. I mean if that's our attitude we need revival really bad. but I'm not so sure if we're not hungry for it. I don't know if I'm communicating what's on my heart tonight very well, but when we gather as a church, it's not just counting noses for a service, for statistics. God wants to meet with us. and speak to us, and yes, meet our needs, but enable us and work through us in a greater way, in a way that we can't imagine. I don't think it's out of the question for God to do something amazing in this place and change not just this community or this county and the surrounding counties, of going from one thing to another. Who's my family? Yeah, that's right. I'm closer to you as my church family, sad to say, than to my own nieces and nephews in my brother's family. I'm closer to this family. And I think that's what the Lord's trying to get us to see, and how important that is. It's not just a place, oh, we go there on Sundays, and if we get a little riffled, we'll just go down the street to a different church, as if they're all kind of interchangeable. It doesn't matter, it's like going to a new state farm agent, just transfer your agents, you know, no problem. Well, that's too much of a casual attitude about what God wants to do in this place. I think that's what I'm trying to highlight. Let's love one another, pray for one another, serve one another, and all the rest of those one another's in the Bible. Okay. Father, we thank you for your love and grace. Would you help us in this place? Not just to have a what might seem to be appropriate services with right music and all of those kinds of things. Not that those are not important, they're vitally important. But not as vital as recognizing the relationship we have one with another because of our Savior. And would you work in our hearts and help us in this place? Father, we pray that you'd be pleased to work and to change us, to bend us, to break us if that's what's necessary. You might do a great work. Would you help us please?