The "Sphere Of Influence"

The theme to the series Welcome To The Family that we started in church today was making God first in your home. The message resonated with me in alot of ways as I recalled alot of my childhood growing up in the church and the "Sphere of Influence" my parents and the church had on me. I am going to be giving a more personal reflection on this message today, though I am going to list the key points to Pastor Shante's sermon that i feel are critical in our daily walk with Christ. 


Pastor Shante' pointed out that the most common way we define a family is a husband, a wife, 2.3 kids, and a dog named Lucky :-) Although we are all aware of the 21st century family in many other ways, let's focus first on our own families growing up. 


Some of us were raised in church as children, and some were not. For me, I was going to church while I was still in the womb. My mother was/is the church pianist at a little Baptist church where we attended and never missed service on Sunday morning, Sunday night, or Wednesday night. Our church was small with less than 50 people probably, but the atmosphere there was that we were all family- calling each other Brother and Sister and tacking on either our first or last name to go with that. Upon a bit of research, I discovered that the term "brothers and sisters" in the NIV version of the Bible was listed in scripture 179 times. In looking at all 179, only about 10% I would say referred to the term in a "biological" sense. The rest of the verses were "addressing" believers of God and Christ, or were defining what that term meant.


Let's look at the verses that defined "brothers and sisters" according to Paul in Romans 8:29 "We know this because God knew them in advance, and He decided in advance that they would be conformed to the image of His Son. That way His Son would be the first of many brothers and sisters." (CEB)


Hebrews 2:11-12 says "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, "I will declare Your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing Your praises." So, in Romans and in Hebrews it tells us that we are not just brothers and sisters as believers to each other, but we are brothers and sisters to Jesus as well as Him being our Lord and Savior.


OK, now let's switch gears to us as kids again, and also to those who have children now. I remember one Sunday morning when my mom came in my room while I was still sleeping trying to get me up for church. I'm not sure why that particular Sunday was more difficult than others to get up, but I was NOT moving no matter how many times she came in telling me each time to "get up" and get ready for church. What I DO remember about this particular Sunday was the cold wash cloth that she put on my face while I was asleep, and my mother's NON-reaction to my outcry and whimpering because of it. There was no "not going" to service as long as I was in my mom and dad's house. 


As the story goes, as in my "About me" testimony on the website, I eventually turned my back on God for many years. Regardless of me not being in church or around other believers, I remember distinct times when people would walk in and out of my life with a word from Him that I would recognize, or I would visit a church with a friend that wanted to go and feel a familiar presence that might put me listening to some Contemporary Christian Music for a little while.... but it never lasted. When I finally DID come to true repentance and remembered my salvation as a teenager, I knew that it was my family- my parents in particular- that set my feet on solid ground my entire childhood: Sunday School, Vacation Bible school, prayer meetings, nursing home visits. 


They rooted me in the Word of God as a child from singing songs to memorize scripture, to "drawing swords". This was a game the youth played usually on Sunday nights where we would stand up, hands on our bibles in front of us, and the teacher would call out a scripture to be looked up. We would then all scurry to open our bibles to find the scripture and read it before anyone else. That game really helped me with where the books of the bible were as well as the song we sang reciting the New Testament books which I sometimes still sing under my breath today when looking up a passage in my actual bible. Youversion is a little easier in that sense, but I still love reading from my actual bible.


Lest I stray. I will end the children part of this with passages for parents bringing up and rooting their children in God and His Word:


"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6 NKJV) This passage is a prime example and testimony of my life. 


"As for parents, don't provoke your children to anger, but raise them with discipline and instruction about the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4 CEB)


"and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
(2 Timothy 3:15 NKJV)- Paul is actually speaking about Timothy here, but I think we can see the correlation it can have on us.


Being rooted as a child, or not being rooted but coming to know Christ as an adult, the following are some key points that Pastor Shante' gave today on how to set a "Sphere of Influence" in your home that is Christ-like. This also is what is needed as a "Sphere of Influence" around us everyday:


1. God needs to be obviously present in our life. In order for that to happen, time is needed to be spent with Him daily.


2. We need to be conscious of the Word of God. 
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."


3. Prayer- we need to be in communication with God. 


4. Service- we need to be loving all people "outside" the church. Pastor Shante' mentioned not getting caught up in a "Holy huddle" as believers and excluding or avoiding others that are outside of our church.


and finally,


5. Our witness and legacy- what will we leave behind? Pastor Shante' said that when we put God 1st in our lives, it makes a lasting impression. it is our job to help people in our family find their purpose in life.


"If God is not a part of your everyday life, God is not part of your reality".
~ Shante' Buckley


Jesus's family is made up of the "whosoever will" group. God created the family to love Him and to love others.


Is your home a godly "Sphere of Influence" for your family? 


Is your daily Monday through Friday atmospheres and company that you keep encouraging you in your Faith?


My friends, one cannot live out their Christianity alone, nor did God intend for it be so. God wants you to be part of His family and leave a legacy to the witness of Jesus Christ to your children, friends, co-workers, your biological family, and to those who you may have only crossed paths with for a moment. But even in an instant you can be an "influence" in helping someone see Jesus. 


What does your "Sphere of Influence" look like?