Belonging to a Family of Families – Comprehensive Study Notes

Preface – A Living Story

• Series birthed from >25 years of church-planting/establishing experience.

• Acknowledges contributions of three generations (Nancy, Maxine, Anna) for editing & adornment of the gospel.

• Recognises support from son Jonathan & son-in-law George – emerging ministers.

• Gratitude to Oakwood Road Church (formerly Ontario Bible Church) for enduring early "ugly green notebooks" & now reaping multigenerational fruit.

• Thanks BILD-International network for worldwide feedback & ongoing translations.

• Jeff Reed likens the work to a modern "didache/catechism" aimed at establishing $10^{4} – 10^{5}$ believers in first principles.

Introduction – Belonging to a Family of Families

• Core human needs: Belonging & Purpose; absence produces depression, loneliness, anger, despair.

• Biblical belonging arises from family → larger family/community.

• Western individualism jeopardises purposeful family & community life; cultural focus on self, careers, personal goals.

• Alarming breakdown documented (e.g., Fatherless America, The Abolition of Marriage).

• Church often mirrors culture: market-driven "shopping-mall" mentality > intergenerational family.

• >60\% of Western church children abandon faith when establishing households.

• Booklet explores local church as family of families:

  • Session $1$ – church as purposeful community.

  • Sessions $2$-$4$ – community life: design, personal responsibilities, inter-family responsibilities.

  • Session $5$ – integrating personal, family & church priorities.

  • Session $6$ – reshaping lives.

• Companion Book $3$ (Community Purpose) will deepen sense of Purpose.

Today’s Fast-Paced Society

• Digital age demands continuous learning; strains time, finances, relationships.

• Christians juggle: work, home, study, church, peer ministry → little margin for personal growth.

• Cultural learning mentality: crave quick fixes, how-to’s, fill-in-blanks, one-time apps; oppose reflective lifelong learning.

• Effective $21^{st}$-century Christians must carve regular growth time & adopt a lifelong strategy.

• The First Principles Series = designed first step.

Design of The First Principles Series (I–III)

• Based on $\text{Colossians}\ 2{:}8$ – guard against captivity by "elementary principles"; learn Christian "first principles" instead.

• Hebrews $5{:}11$-$14$ – cannot mature without mastering first principles.

• Historical precedents: early-church Didache, Reformation Catechisms, Newman’s "push up the first principles" concept for all disciplines.

• Layout:

  • Series I (4 booklets): Discipleship, Community Life, Community Purpose, Disciplined Living.

  • Series II (4): Marriage, Family, Ministry LifeWork, True Success.

  • Series III (5): Bible Study, Acts, $1$ & $2$ Thessalonians, Ephesians, Pastorals.

Design of the Study Guides

• Built on Hebrew wisdom model + contemporary educational research (Consistent Study Process – CSP):

  • Step $1$ Study Scripture

  • Step $2$ Consult Scholars

  • Step $3$ Think Through Issues (small-group dialog, not opinion-pooling)

  • Step $4$ Apply Principles

• Week $6$ adds Reshaping Our Lives (heart, mind, life alignment).

• Each booklet also contains:

  • Glossary of key terms.

  • Lifelong Learning resource list.

Session 1 – The Centerpiece of Christ’s Plan: The Church (Eph $2{:}18 – 3{:}11$)

• Paul entrusted with two-fold stewardship:

  1. Preach gospel to Gentiles (cf. Acts $9$).

  2. "Bring to light the $\textit{administration}$" (Greek oikos + nomos) = Christ’s house-order/plan.

• Plan = make Jews & Gentiles "one new family" – God’s household.

• Apostles & prophets = foundation; Christ = cornerstone.

• Church reveals God’s multifaceted wisdom even to angelic/demonic realms.

• Implications:

  • Church is central, not incidental, in God’s eternal purpose.

  • Local congregations must align with apostolic administration to guard truth & manifest wisdom.

Session 2 – The Church as a Family of Families ($1$ Tim $3{:}14 – 16$)

• Purpose of $1$ Timothy: instruct proper conduct in a household of God (local church).

• Local church = "pillar & support of the truth"; structure affects truth preservation.

• Paul’s guidelines (Pastoral Epistles) cover:

  • Qualified elders/deacons.

  • Inter-family care (e.g., widows).

• Departure from apostolic house-order → deficiency (Titus $1{:}5$).

• Following Paul = following Christ (cf. $1$ Cor $11{:}1$).

Session 3 – Living Within a Believing Family (Eph $5{:}22 – 6{:}9$)

• Individual household text addressing each role sequentially:

  • Wives → submit to husbands as to the Lord.

  • Husbands → love wives as Christ loves church (self-sacrificial, sanctifying, cherishing).

  • Children → obey parents "in the Lord".

  • Fathers → nurture/discipline children in Lord’s instruction.

  • Slaves/Servants → obey masters with sincerity; Masters → treat slaves justly (cultural adaptation).

• Mutual submission (v.$21$) expressed through fulfilling divinely assigned roles.

• Rejecting divine order → societal fragmentation (cf. Blankenhorn’s Fatherless America).

Session 4 – Living Within a Family of Families (Titus $2{:}1 – 15$)

• Community household text; Titus to "set in order" Cretan churches.

• Instructions by community strata:

  • Older men – temperate, dignified, sound in faith, love, perseverance.

  • Older women – reverent, no slander, teach good, train younger women.

  • Younger women – love husband/children, be sensible, pure, kind, subject to husbands.

  • Younger men – sensible, model of good deeds, sound speech.

  • Slaves – submissive, trustworthy, adorn gospel.

• Goals:

  • Prevent false teachers from "upsetting whole families" (Titus $1{:}10 – 11$).

  • Produce balanced life → "adorn" gospel so Word not dishonoured (vv.$5$, $8$, $10$).

  • Titus to "speak, exhort, reprove with all authority; let no one disregard" (v.$15$).

Session 5 – Setting Life Priorities (Eph $5{:}15 – 21$)

• Command: "walk wisely" → make the most of $\textit{kairos}$ (appointed time).

• Contrast: drunkenness (world-filling) vs Spirit-filling (Word-filling, Col $3{:}16$ parallel).

• Spirit-filled life expressed via:

  • Corporate worship (psalms, hymns, spiritual songs).

  • Thankfulness.

  • Mutual submission (bridge into household text of vv.$22$-$6{:}9$).

• Wise living requires integrating personal, family & church priorities with Christ’s mission.

Session 6 – Reshaping Our Lives

• Culminates prior applications: reflection, journaling, prayer, conviction-forming, memorisation, concrete habit changes.

• Three commitment spheres:

  1. Heart – reflective journaling & key prayer request on $3\times5$ card.

  2. Mind – craft concise convictions w/ supporting Scriptures; memorise at least $1$ verse.

  3. Life – decisions, projects, habits aligned with household order & mission (e.g., reallocating time, redefining family leadership, deeper church involvement).

Glossary Highlights (selected)

• Administration – $oikos + nomos$; Christ’s house-order/plan.

• Mystery – previously hidden, now revealed truth (Jew-Gentile unity in church).

• Haustafel – German term for household codes.

• Sound Doctrine – accurate teaching + healthy, balanced living.

• Walk – daily lifestyle conducted under Spirit’s direction.

Lifelong Learning Pathways

• First Principles Series I – Book 3 "Participating in the Mission of the Church" – deepens purpose dimension.

• Establishing Series – Book 2 "Becoming Established in the Church" – advanced, article-rich parallel.

• Key readings recommended:

  • Francis Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the $20^{th}$ Century.

  • Gene Getz, The Walk / The Measure of a Christian.

  • Additional works by Michael Griffiths & Howard Snyder on community & mission.

Overarching Connections & Implications

• Church = God’s primary instrument for displaying wisdom & advancing gospel; thus must function as ordered family of families.

• Individual discipleship, family health & communal order are inseparable.

• Apostolic house-order provides timeless blueprint; divergence yields truth erosion & witness loss.

• Wise, Spirit-filled living equates to aligning personal, familial & congregational priorities with Christ’s revealed administration.

• True belonging & purpose are recovered when believers embed in intergenerational, mission-oriented local churches.