The Family of Christ; Luke 8:19-21

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 10/30/2022. When Jesus' mother and unbelieving brothers come to visit Him one day, they are blocked outside the house where He is teaching by an overflow crowd. When Jesus is told they are there, He surprisingly seems to disown them by pointing to those around Him as His "mother and brothers". But Jesus is actually using the situation to pose a profound Theological question: "What is required to be a member of Christ's spiritual family?" Since this message was given on Reformation Sunday, we will try to answer that question by defining two of the central doctrines to come out of the Reformation: Justification by faith alone, and membership in God's family through Adoption. We will realize that Luke has placed this story where it is to emphasize the principle of "hearing" and "doing" the Word of God in the context of the parable of the Sower. Ultimately we will celebrate God's glorious plan of redemption as He justifies those He calls out of darkness and adopts them into the family of Christ.