Day 8: Who Belongs to Jesus? Part One, Who Comes First?

This day's recap: recorded by the host.

Welcome to Daily Recap of Sunday's Sermon. I'm [your name], and it's Monday.

This week we're walking through last Sunday's sermon from Pastor Aaron Anderson. It's called "Who Belongs to Jesus?" and it comes from Matthew chapter 12, verses 46 through 50.

Here's the big picture. Jesus calls those who do His Father's will His true family. So we must put Him first, even before the families we love, and faithfully follow Him.

We'll take it one part a day. Today is part one, "Who comes first?" Tuesday is "Jesus identifies His disciples as His true family." Wednesday is "Putting Jesus first, and the privilege of belonging to Him." Thursday is "Jesus teaches us how His true family lives." And Friday is "Is He first in your life?"

If you'd like to hear the whole thing, the full sermon is at S G C Atlanta dot org slash sermons. I'd really encourage you to listen.

So let's start where Pastor Aaron started, with a story.

He was at a Kings football game. A kid got separated from his parents. The boy did exactly what he should. He went to the guy running the audio. So the announcer called for the parents to come find their son. Then he added, "And parent of the year award goes to…"

Pastor Aaron laughed and admitted he'd won that award himself. It was years ago at the Georgia Aquarium. They had four little kids at the time. His youngest was maybe two or three. He looked up and wondered, "Where'd Jimmy go?" Then security called. That was his parent of the year moment.

He said we were going to talk about family that morning. Then he read Matthew 12. And here's the heart of it, verse 50: "For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."

Then he prayed. He asked that we would make Jesus Christ first in our lives. He asked that we "wouldn't play games with that." He prayed for an awareness of where we move other people and other things into that place, and that the Spirit would push those aside. He prayed that we would fight the good fight of faith, keep our eyes on Christ, and love Him more than anything else in this world.

Next he asked us something. Have you ever been in the middle of something when a family member calls? Maybe you're at work. Maybe you're in the middle of a project, or at the top of a tree. Maybe you've got plans you've looked forward to. Then the phone rings.

For Pastor Aaron, it's usually Thursday. Thursdays have been his meeting days for twenty-some years. His family knows that. But somebody always calls anyway. He's sitting there with Phil, and he picks up every single time. And the call usually starts, "Hey, what are you doing?" He says, "I'm in a meeting with Phil." And they say, "Oh yeah, I forgot. Thursdays are your meetings."

Why does he pick up? Because they're important. Because he really, really loves them. Family has a place in our lives. When they call, everything else just becomes less important.

And that's a good thing. He pointed to the young parents who stood up that morning holding their children. Each child has value. Each one is created in the image of God, a gift and a miracle from God. That's the way it should be.

But God has also brought us into His family. And that has to find a place in our lives as well, especially Jesus Christ.

So here was the question. Pastor Aaron asked, "what happens when our love for our families comes into conflict with our love for Jesus Christ?"

He said that happens a lot. And sometimes it catches us by surprise.

What happens when obeying Jesus means disappointing someone we really love? What happens when a spouse wants one thing, but we know the Lord is calling us to something different? What about when our parents or our children don't understand a decision we're making because we want to honor Jesus? Or when keeping peace in the family means compromising what God's Word calls us to do?

So who comes first in those moments? He said not just the Sunday school answer. We know that answer. Who actually comes first?

Then he gave a warning worth hearing slowly. "It's possible to love our families so much that we begin putting their desires, their approval, and even their happiness ahead of our obedience to Jesus Christ."

Is that true of you? Whose approval do you reach for first?

And then the key, in his words: "here's the key, Jesus must always come first." Before our spouses. Before our children. Before our parents.

He had some advice for the young parents that morning, and for one older parent too. He gave Joey a little nudge there. He said he doesn't have a key to parenting except what we're learning in this text: "if you want to be a good dad and a good mom, love Jesus more than you love your kids." Love Him. Follow Him. Trust Him. Deny yourself and take up your cross.

So is He first in our lives? Following Him may mean making decisions the people we love don't understand or agree with.

That brought Pastor Aaron back to the passage. Jesus is teaching the crowds. Then His own mother and brothers come looking for Him. Jesus uses that moment to teach us who truly belongs to His family. It shows us the privilege of belonging to Him and the importance of following Him faithfully.

Here's the truth for the whole week. Because Jesus calls those who do His Father's will His family, we must put Him first and faithfully follow Him. Pastor Aaron said he'd unpack it in two points.

So this week, think about your own Thursday call. Who gets your attention? And when it comes down to it, who comes first?

Tomorrow we will cover "Jesus identifies His disciples as His true family." We'll look at the scene in verse 46, why His family came, and why our relationship with Jesus Christ is greater than even our closest earthly relationships.

I'm [your name]. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.