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And it was reported to Him (Jesus), “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
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The Lord’s purpose was to change the way we think, metanoeō in the original Greek and almost always translated as ‘repent’. The problem is that the ‘church’ organization soon convinced people that it was all about a focus on being sorry for your sins. While in fact it was the purpose of Jesus who paid the price for, and cleansed us from our sins on the cross, to wipe away every tear from our eyes, to conquer death, that there be no more mourning nor crying or pain. {Rev.21:4} Jesus said that He brought His word into the world that His joy would be made full in us. {Jn.17:13} So let us change the way we think about the church.

Somebody famously said (and I loosely quote) that Christianity started as a fellowship in Israel, it then became a philosophy in Greece, then moved to Rome and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a religious culture, and then it came to America and became an enterprise, in other words, a business. While there is a lot of truth in that statement, it surely misses the mark! What we now call Christianity was always, and still is actually one thing—a family. The family of God!

That is made so very clear by the apostle Paul as he spoke what he had heard from God {2Pt.1:21} that is “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” {Rom.8:15-16}

We will never belong to a church, we belong to God who purchased us with a price, {1Cor.6:20} the shed blood of Jesus on the cross! So no, we do not belong to a church, we do not go to a church, we ARE the church! And it only takes two or three of us. Jesus said for where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst. {Mat.18:20}

The gospel of Matthew provides a little more detail on today’s verse in Luke. When Jesus was in a building speaking to the multitudes, somebody told Him that His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. He responded by saying “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.” {Mat.12:47-50) That is the Scriptural definition of the word church!

Be on guard, be alert, for there are so many false religions. The apostle Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said to those Greeks who were divided over the things he was saying, the testimony of Jesus, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. {Acts 17:22} Those ‘learned men’ had so many different ideas of what real, true religion was—but surely not nearly as many as the world today.

We know, praise God, what the answer is: “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” {Jas.1:27} However, the single most important thing is not religion, but righteousness! Religion and its works will not, cannot gain you entry into heaven {Mat.7:22-23} Salvation is the free gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. {Eph.2:8-9}

“But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:4-6)

CHANGE OUR HEARTS OH GOD