Mauldin First Baptist Church: Recent Episodes
Mauldin First Baptist
Mauldin First Baptist is a loving, multigenerational family where the love of God leads us to share Jesus, serve others and make new disciples.
We’ve seen many going through horrible losses and suffering due to recent hurricanes. When times like this come, many wonder where God is and begin to turn to Him and ask questions like “Why?”
We have all been given resources by God… things like money, possessions, job titles, authority, power, certain abilities and talents… even time and relationships and connections… what are we supposed to do with all these resources?
Even when Jesus says “Do not worry”, we can think that this is not realistic because it seems like everyone worries about something. And we can think that we can’t control worrying.
Often, we come to Jesus, asking for something… but then Jesus diverts our attention to something else. Sometimes, we think something is important, but then Jesus says “No…THIS is what’s important… THIS is what you need to watch out for.”
Okay, quick informal survey… when following directions through Google Maps (or other platform/app), if there is a question/unsure… when it’s time to make a decision, MORE likely to follow Google Maps or more likely to go the way you think is best?
Let’s read the first verse of our passage today…Luke 11:29. Now at first, read this and think “but they didn’t ask for a sign…” Actually they...
Are you afraid when it comes to demons? When you read about demons in the Bible, does it make you uncomfortable? Do you worry about demons and what they can do? As we read Luke 11:14-28, we’ll see Jesus interact with a demon, and what those around Him think of demons. But let’s go ahead and answer some common questions we still hear today about demons…
We may talk a lot about God, we may even talk a lot TO God… but how often do we ask God to teach us? We see in Luke 11 where Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. Through this, we receive important teachings from Jesus about prayer.
Have you ever noticed that when reading the scriptures (or practicing our faith for that matter), that the focus is often on what is right and what is wrong. And there is a place for that. This IS important. But...
I want to begin with a little exercise/experiment… requires you to speak, or at least would be helpful if you speak. I’ll say something and I want to see if you can guess what comes after it. Ready? “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty (had a great fall).” Next…
While one could make a strong argument that our country was founded as a “Christian” nation, one could make a stronger argument that our country was founded as a free nation. And many today, even in our government, are using that freedom to turn away from God. So what do we do as godly citizens?
Recent events within our Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) have led us to discussions about roles and titles for women in the church. But we all have roles in the church… and we all should be united in the mission of making disciples.
Quick review of last week… Talking about our roles in the church, current debate in SBC about roles for women, can women have word “pastor” in job title? Needs to be addressed, but good for all of us to try to better understand all our roles, scriptures tell us what to look for, what’s important… so last week, we began with saying...
Next week after worship, I’ll be flying to Indianapolis for annual Southern Baptist Convention. As usual, we will elect officers, commission missionaries and hear reports from our various institutions. This year, there will also be a vote to make a change to the SBC Constitution regarding the criteria for...
On Memorial Day, we take time to remember and honor those who gave their lives for us, the people of our country. Would you agree that those who gave their lives would want to see us enjoying our lives? Or do we honor them by living in misery? Sometimes we forget it’s our choice. Which is why some of the greatest teachings in scriptures are REMINDERS… things that we already know, but perhaps have forgotten or set aside. Psalm 103 encourages to not forget the benefits of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
Even the most obedient disciples can struggle to answer common questions concerning our faith. “Where did the dinosaurs come from?” “How come there is so much evil in the world?” “How can you prove the Bible is the Word of God?” While there are many great proofs for our faith… it’s still a “faith”, a belief… it’s more than a set of facts. In fact, it really comes down to the person of Jesus. What do you do with Jesus? What is your decision about who He is?
We come to a time in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus no longer expects His disciples to just follow… they are now being called to DO the things they’ve seen Jesus do. And He gives them the power to do it! God still expects His disciples today to do the same things… yes, to go out and preach the word… but to also practice what we preach and demonstrate the gospel with our deeds.
We often think that when it comes to God, WE have to be the ones to find Him. But today’s story shows that while we may be looking for God, He’s come to look for us too! And He wants to be found. And He wants to give to those who ask Him for help.
If we believe God created everything and everyone, just by speaking, then is it reasonable to believe that God has ALL THE POWER THERE IS? If so, then we could also assume He doesn’t need our help. But we see in the scriptures when Jesus healed people, He didn’t just speak and heal everyone. He healed individuals. Because those individuals then went to tell others what God had done for them.
“He Is Risen!” “He is Risen Indeed!” This is a traditional Christian greeting goes back well over a thousand years, even quite possibly among the first generations of Christ followers. Today, we continue to proclaim this because this is THE foundation of our faith.
We all know that God loves everyone. But we can often find ourselves trying to add exceptions to God’s love, things like we’ve been seeing in the Gospel of Luke like “Yes, but not those with leprosy… not the tax collectors… not on the Sabbath… not those who hate us…” This week, we see a “sinful woman”, and how a religious man sees her and how God sees her.
We believe God loves us, even say “more than you know”… But God loves us differently than we love each other. Believe it or not, Luke 7:18-28 describes God’s love.
Last week in Luke 6, Jesus tells us to “love our enemies”. In Luke 7, we meet one of these “enemies”, a Roman centurion. But this man is more than an enemy… he is a man looking to Jesus for help. Help that we ALL need!
We all believe that God loves all people… and we all know that God expects us to love all people. We even know that we are supposed to love our enemies. But do we? Or do we have excuses to Jesus’ clear teaching about loving those who aren’t always so easy to love.
In Luke 6, we see once again how the “religious people” see Jesus, their Messiah, standing right in front of them, doing miracles… and all they can do is ask questions about what’s appropriate on the Sabbath. How do we religious people get this way?
We’ve heard of “blind spots” in our cars. But we can have spiritual blind spots in our walk with Jesus. Sometimes Jesus points these out to us, like He does in Luke 5:27-39. We can often think we are so safe in our beliefs… but then Jesus helps us to see what we have blinded ourselves from seeing, especially when it comes to how we see (or don’t see) sinful people.
While we love God and are thankful for all He has done and continues to do for us, we will all have those times when God does something we don’t expect… Did we do something wrong? Are we being punished?
Since God has chosen PEOPLE as His main instrument for sharing His good news with the world, some may think that those will have to be exceptional people. Were Jesus’ 12 disciples exceptional people?
If you had a message of good news for the whole world, how would you go about sharing it? Today, we have mass media and the internet. But when it was time for God to announce His good news to the world that He was sending our savior, He chose a person. Why a person?
It is appropriate to refer to our belief in Jesus as a “faith”. And the Bible defines “faith” as being based in what we hope for but cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). But our faith is still based on facts. The first generation of believers “knew”, because they saw Jesus with their own eyes. But what about...
We live in a culture that is unprecedented when it comes to information availability. All for it, not negative… but I think we’ve gone from information availability to information bombardment. So MUCH, isn’t it?
What was your favorite Christmas? Can you remember? For most of us, it’s a childhood Christmas, a time when you got that special toy, sort of a “Ralphie and the red ryder BB gun” moment. Maybe it was a bike, or a video game. How many of you your favorite Christmas is a time when you were an adult? Maybe a...
If you hear that someone is coming and looking for you, what would you think? Is that good news or bad news? Advent means “coming” and Christmas is all about how our God is more than a God who created us. He’s a God who loves us and a God who is with us.
Stanley Tam gave God the majority…even when it wasn’t much. Stanley did this because God wanted Him to and he wanted God to have control. God used this generous...
The prophecies of Daniel, especially in Chapter 11, are so detailed that many still believe they HAD to be written after they had happened. But the power of our God is demonstrated in prophecies that are fulfilled.
In Daniel 10, God continues to not only give Daniel visions, but emphasizes that Daniel needs help too to understand it. As we’ll see today, Daniel needs help not only to understand it, but to actually bear it, to get through it. The same is true for us.
Daniel 9 contains a powerful prophecy in vv. 20-27 that can be confusing to some regarding the end times. These scriptures continue to be debated as to their exact meaning. See the chart below as we read Daniel 9:20-27…
Sometimes, current events occur and we wonder if they are part of the “End Times” that are prophesied in scripture. It’s true the scriptures do speak of the End Times, but not so we can make predictions or control the future. When tempted to make predictions, keep these two scriptures in mind… Matthew 24:34-42 and I Corinthians 14:3
We now move into the section of Daniel dealing with visions and prophecies of the future. Some would be fulfilled in Daniel’s time, others still to be fulfilled in the future. Prophecies can be difficult to understand, especially when it seems God is allowing evil to reign through wars and wicked kings.
Some people dismiss faith and instead insist on “proof”. But the power of our God is magnified when God does something and there are no proofs or facts or explanations… just faith. We often misunderstand faith and the power faith has, both for our lives and for those who do not know God.
Let’s begin with a deep theological question that has perplexed scholars for centuries…Would you tell someone they have spinach in their teeth? ...
I can still remember her putting down the phone. I can still see the disappointment in her face. I can still hear her crying as she ran out of the room. One of the ladies where I worked, call her “Melissa”, was getting married. I think most women dream about the day they will get married. Not only about the man, good to have one up there I guess, but
Famous martyrs like Jan Hus (or “John Huss”) displayed great courage in speaking out against the wrongs being practiced by the church. How do you know when to take a stand and where do you find this kind of courage?
In the Book of Daniel, we read several stories that are set up to demonstrate the power of our God, things only God can do. Why? To see there is MORE than just this world and MORE than the things we see and control. Because often forget this and put so much of our faith in ourselves.
As we begin this new series in the Book of Daniel, it’s important to know
the context, what’s going on during this time period. And probably the best way
to start it off is by saying this:
Does my gift matter? I could go into how yes it does, all adds up, not just one or two holding getting us through. Most regular attending members give, which is...
We all see beggars by the roadside. And we all have different ideas or feelings about these people. In today’s scripture, we see not only a man who is healed, but a God who cares and responds when we cry out to Him.
I brought something with me today…no it’s not my lunch. Looks like it. We’ll be talking about a small lunch brought by a small child and what God did with it today…but that’s not it. Instead, I have some things here...
When I say “King Solomon”, what comes to mind? Son of David, 700 wives, wisest man who ever lived… well, there is something else I think of when I think of King Solomon…
I like to watch tennis, Wimbledon on right now, tournament last two weeks, tennis players train all their lives, go through grueling workouts. Now, why go through all this? Because...
As we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, a date where we declared our
independence from England and to be a nation where we are free, we look as we
always should do to the scriptures to see how God “guides” a nation that looks to
Him. After all, we are
Throughout time, there have been arguments and debates about the existence of God. Is there a God or isn’t there? When some speak of this subject, they insist on proof. Can we prove God exists? I’ll give you the short answer,...
Do little children truly understand anything? They may think they do at times… but I think of little children more like this…
I really don’t spend a ton of time on social media, click on it, quick scroll, occasional look at something, most of us know that what we click on, increases we’ll see more of that thing, car shopping, keep getting car ads, a while back, clicked on a funny “meem”, “You had one job”, pictures...
Today, we close out our study in Romans by reading the last chapter, Romans 16. Now, when I say close out, I hope you don’t see the heading at the top of the chapter and “close out” already, thinking that this...
I think when it comes to living this life God has given us, it comes down to one of two ways. The first, to see your life as YOUR LIFE, to do what you want to do, and that you see God, God loves you, sent Jesus to die for you, saved you, you have Heaven waiting, but you do what YOU want to do and hope God is okay with it, go to Heaven one day.
Today as you can see by the title, we are going to discuss the truth about God’s plan. But as we begin, I want to state something very clearly… and that is that we cannot understand everything about God’s plan. Now the good news about this is...
Last week as we celebrated Easter, I shared with you that one belief can change everything about your life. Looking back, I might should have added…one belief can change everything about your life… but make sure it is the RIGHT belief.
Isn’t it amazing how JUST ONE BELIEF can change everything about your life? But it doesn’t have to be a new invention or a new discovery in space or technology… It can be something you believe about how the world is and what’s coming. Even if your circumstances don’t change, the most important change is in YOU and how YOU live and see the world
Instead of trying to find life only through the law, or by only living for the flesh, we instead are to live by the Spirit, walking closely with our “Abba” Father, who enables us to endure our present sufferings, but also reminds us that we one day will be freed from these sufferings.
Even after being freed from the law, we still will struggle with living in the flesh. We know we should do better. And we know that we shouldn’t do things we keep on doing. The law is not our master, but the law can be our teacher to continue to lead us to Christ.
Before Christ, we were essentially slaves to ourselves, living only to satisfy our cravings. But now we are under grace, not the law, so we should no longer let sin be our master (v. 14). Grace is a gift from God.
Where did our sin come from? Through one man, Adam, in the beginning. Where does our salvation come from? One man, Jesus, who gave His life for all of humanity. He purchased us with His innocent blood and paid the price required for our sin, even before we knew Him.
The life and faith of Abraham gives us a good example of how we can be “justified”. This word means being declared right with God. Abraham believed God and God credited him with righteousness.
A hard truth for some to accept: NO ONE is righteous enough to be saved on their own. Sin means we all fall short of God’s standard. No one can save themselves, but everyone can be saved by faith in Jesus.
The good news is that God loves us and that everyone can be saved, both Jews and Gentiles. But the bad news is that we cannot save ourselves. When we share the gospel, we must also share the truth, that we are sinners and without God, we will be destroyed by our depravity.
God does not force us to choose Him. But He does clearly lay out for us the difference between following Him and not following Him. It takes strength and courage to turn away from the gods of this world to follow our one true God.
Sometimes we like to make things sound better than the really are. This may be no big deal with things like our job title. But when it comes to our sin, it is a big deal. God is ready to move us beyond our failures… but He wants us to face them and admit our guilt and for us to repent and to turn away from the things we covet so much.
Love the story of the Battle of Jericho… but I think most of you know how it goes… Get to Jericho, walled city, march around it once day for 6 days, seventh day walked around it 7 times, then blew the trumpets, everyone shouted and...
Did you ever dream of being a superhero as a child? Superman, being able to fly? Hulk, being super strong? Batman, think his superpower was being super rich. I liked Spiderman as a child, climbing walls, swinging from webs…But is this what God expects us to be?
Merry Christmas! Are you ready for Christmas? Doesn’t matter, it’s coming next Sunday! A lot of things in like happen, even if we feel we aren’t ready for them. Because God doesn’t ask us if we’re ready, if we would like things done a certain way or not… do you know why?
Imagine if the cure for COVID was finally discovered? In fact, what if the cure for COVID was also the cure for cancer? And since we’re just dreaming here, and what if this cure wasn’t tainted with politics or any other suspicious motives? I’m talking about...
How many of you here think I’m competitive? Now see, did you notice how fast some of the hands went up? People who’ve known me for a while know that I can be pretty competitive. In fact, probably the longer you’ve known me, the faster your hand would go up. I love competition, I love games, I love...
For the follower of Jesus, a “full” life is not about being full of worldly stuff and pleasures. The “full” part comes from walking with Jesus and trying to be more like Him in all our ways. Impossible? Sure, but..
Throughout this series, we’ve been using symbols and word pictures to get a better understanding of what love is like with God, what friendship is like according to God, purpose/mission, even death… Well, perhaps the most powerful word picture God gives to us is at the end of the Bible in Revelation. God “reveals” to John what Heaven is going to be like...
If you’ve seen your outline, you may have noticed that today’s topic is death. Not always fun but relates to us all because it’s going to happen to us all. And my hope for us today is to see how in the scriptures, we are supposed to have, and to live, with a different perspective on death than the rest of the world.
We’re in the middle of series called Five Fabulous Sundays, celebrating together and going deeper together on what I think makes being the church “fabulous”. First week, defined “fabulous”, comes from a French word for “fable”, means fairy tale or fantasy… Is being a church full of fantasy talk, we talk about love and friendship (last two Sundays), but is that really possible?
Today, were going to read a section of scripture that is one of my favorites (all preachers, all scripture, all favorites), but the reason for this is because we have such detail about a specific moment. Other sections can be one scripture that can cover a whole week (from there they went to this town, later to another town). But as we read this passage in John 15, its actually just one part of...
Mauldin First Baptist is a loving multigenerational family where the love of God leads us to share Jesus, serve others and make new disciples. Only one word repeated in that statement... love (loving and love). Love is the most important thing about being Christ followers.
Today's message is Part 4: Our International Missions. Guest speaker Ron Haught discusses International Missions...Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas.......
Study in the book of Amos led by Ron Haught. Today's devotion: "One All-Powerful, Ever Present Judge". Amos 9:1-15
In a very “American” season right now. Memorial Day, flag day June 14th , 4th of July, celebrate our freedoms, great thing, we are free… but as followers of Jesus, our freedom was…
It’s not unusual for people to ask me for scriptures related to a certain question or topic. And I'm always happy to oblige. Anything I can do to get people searching God’s word is a good thing. I’ve put some of those on the back of your outline. But like we said in the Lesson #1, if you are searching for God’s will, you won't find it by...
As we begin, I want to us to dive right into the main point of this message as it pertains to God's will. In this series, we trying to understand more of what God says about His will for our lives right from the Bible. Not just our...
As we talk about God’s will, maybe I’m assuming something I shouldn’t… Do you want to know God’s will? Do you want the…
Today we are going to look at the story of when Jesus spoke with a religious leader named Nicodemus, but I want us to begin with a little illustration…
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Today’s message is from Hugh Bailey representing The Gideons International. The Gideons International is an Association of Christian business and professional men and their wives dedicated to telling people about Jesus through associating together for service, sharing personal testimony, and by providing Bibles and New Testaments. While we are often recognized for our work with hotels, we also place and distribute Scriptures in strategic locations so they are available to those who want them, as well as to those who may not know they need them. Learn more by visiting The Gideons International website.
Devotion by Rev. Wade Leonard - Today's Devotion is from Joel 1:1 through Joel 2:17 - "Locusts and Armies"
Question as we begin today… why do you trust the Bible? Why do you believe that THIS contains the Word of God? What has convinced you? Other religions, they have their scriptures too. Here is a copy of…
After the Civil War, the nation began the Reconstruction period. The south began to recover, but it was tough, especially since the main crop was cotton. Cotton had always had a pretty dependable harvest, but over the years of constant planting, the soil had become depleted, plus in the 1920’s, a little insect called the boll weevil came along and destroyed nearly any cotton field growing. So, what could they do?…
When was the last time you were really angry? I’m not talking about a little annoyed. I mean really angry. Like you wanted to just...
As we begin, you see the title, talking about “crazy” family today… Usually in our culture, we talk about our family being “crazy” in mostly a fun way… “like the old joke, ‘does your family suffer from…
Last week, talking about family, talked about the family foundation, saying that “Family” means we hold on to God as we hold on to each other… no matter what. That our love for God leads to a love for each other (Great Commandment) … and this is what enables us to..
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Just finished our series about the follower… hopefully by now, we’ve learned that following Jesus means working with other followers of Jesus. Sure, you make...
Today's devotional: "Punishment Coming" led by Rev. Wade Leonard. Scripture: Hosea 5:1-6
After church today, imagine if I gave this announcement…“Okay, after the service is over, we have 10 buses out in the parking lot that will take you to…”
If we are followers of Jesus, then we are sharers of Jesus. If you have a love relationship with Jesus, He is your savior, you have asked Him to forgive you of your sins, asked Him to be the Lord of your life, then the IMMEDIATE EXPECTATION is that...
Heard mothers talking about struggles… usually want to help… but they were talking about struggling with breastfeeding. Couldn’t exactly share from experience. But in a day when we are all told to...
Even if you are not a student of poetry, you have probably heard of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”… Most people remember at least part of…
I’ve got a problem… and it’s because I think the church has a problem, the church at large, the Christians of the world… and here it is – do you think the…
I want us to begin by reading a familiar scripture… but I know it’s not normally thought of as a Christmas scripture. But I’m going to ask you to read it and picture it as you read it as a Christmas story… believe me, I’m all for the…
Others prayers – does this mean we should pray for others? Sure. But in today’s scripture, “others prayers” means something else. “Others prayers” mean…
Even our Lord Jesus was tempted to “tell” God what He should do or what was best…but Jesus…
David knew he had really messed up. But we see in David a man who knows how to pour out his…
Ever let go of a balloon and watch it float away? No control, rarely see the end of it, where it ends up. Some of us see prayer in a similar way. We put it together, we offer it to God and then send it up… and then… what happens next?...
Today, we’re going to read about someone who helped Paul and his co-workers. Her name was Lydia. All we know about Lydia directly is...
When we began this series about “help”, we talked about how God hears our cries for help, and He not only hears us, He helps us… but on his terms. And one of the most common things we forget in praying for help is that God often sends us help in
the form of others… because we are not created to do everything on our own.
After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, He left behind His followers to continue to carry the message to the world. And that message was clear: That God is real, and that God loves us… and the proof of this was the person of Jesus, that Jesus was and is the Son of God and that He came
from Heaven and became flesh so that He could die for our sins.
Today, we’re beginning a new series simply entitled “Help”. The big idea that we’re going to be talking about is about how God helps us. Because I believe everyone asks God for help.
Let me say that again… I believe EVERYONE asks God for help. Those who believe in God and those who don’t. I have no...
The world around us often finds itself confused and unsure. After pursuing all the things of this world, hoping to find answers and meaning, many times, they too will openly wonder “Does anyone known what’s going on?”
I find this can often be the case with death. We all know it happens, we’ve all experienced someone dying… and despite all our medical advances, for many there are still so many unanswered questions about what happens when we die.
In the scriptures we’re going to read in just a moment, we’re going to read a familiar passage about how we should love our enemies. BTW, anyone disagree with this, that we should love our enemies? Of course not. Why? Because...
Before we read in Matthew 5, I want to take a quick look at Romans 7:21-27, because the stuff we’re going to talk about today is really important… in fact, I think it’s an area where many of us who...
Do you know what this is? (slide 2) An O ring. A common item used to help seal parts in machines. Usually made of rubber, they are used when joining parts in machines to seal any gaps so that liquids or gases from one part won’t escape. Every have a leaky faucet? Sometimes, it’s an O ring that you can’t even see, it’s deep inside, have to take apart, can be very small, but can make a huge difference. It was an O ring like this that was discovered...
We’re going to read some of the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 5 in just a moment, but flip over to Matthew 20:24. Two of Jesus’ disciples ask for
positions of high rank in Jesus’ coming kingdom… actually get their mother to ask for them. Other disciples get upset, not because it was rude or selfish, but because...
When God tells us love is the most important thing, He also tells us that “just loving God” isn’t the ONLY thing… we are to give Him everything AND we are to love everyone. And this is true even if we don’t want to or even if we don’t like everyone. Which is why we need each other.
It’s true, we are all part of the body of Christ and each one of us is a part of it (see I Corinthians 12:27). The work we are called to do matters, it is important. But today, we need to remember why we matter…and it’s not because of the work.
On Easter Sunday, we remember and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, because without this, we would have no salvation. But have you ever wondered, “Well, how did people BEFORE Jesus have salvation? How did they know they were going to Heaven when they died?”
Too often, we think that “church” only takes place inside the church building. Praise the Lord that “church” is going on much more than just an hour a week! It better. Because we can and should and need to do the work of the church outside as well as inside. So why don’t we do more outside? It may be because of how we see those outside.
Being a shepherd isn’t always physically hard… but it demands time and the right attitude. Sheep will be difficult at times, they will always find trouble. Our Lord Jesus not only tells us to feed His lambs, but to go outside and find them, just as He did.
Hopefully, we’re all looking forward to spring and less-restrictive COVID-19 policies so we can get outside again. But people, and churches, can turn inward and prefer the safety and familiarity of staying inside. Which is why our Lord Jesus reminds us in John 21:15 that if we love Him, then we’ll love those who are still lost outside.
Most of us like hearing a secret. Paul shares a secret with us that really shouldn’t be a secret… but it should be shared with everyone.
Even a strong and healthy tree branch will not last long if it doesn’t remain a part of the tree. Jesus reminds His followers of this in John 15:1-17
“Makes me want to sing!” is usually a phrase associated with something happy. But throughout history, people have found themselves singing through their pain as well. We see this in Psalm 22 today, where King David chose to sing about his suffering.
The popular TV show “This Is Us” begins with 4 people who share the same birthday. But the show is praised for demonstrating how they all share much more in common as they struggle to be family. All families struggle, especially during this past year of the pandemic. But even though it threatens our very lives, we risk finding ways to be together, because God made us to share life together as a family.