Ephesians 2:17-20 Our first metaphor for the church is home. Church is like a home. We’ll spend three weeks here, and each Sunday we will focus on a different aspect of this metaphor. Today we’re talking about belonging. Next week on becoming. And the following week on authority. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Our Triune God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are not born as children of God, but creatures of God, created in God’s image. We are adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ. This is called conversion and new birth. So imagine a family adopting a child. The very first step is belonging. This child now belongs in the family. Why? Simply because they’ve been chosen and adopted into the family. They don’t have to prove themselves or perform some great task. They belong because they were chosen and adopted. The next step is becoming. They enter a new household. They step into a family culture. They have to live by the house rules. They are formed by the parents: loved, disciplined, trained, educated. Belonging always comes before becoming, but there’s no such thing as belonging without becoming. The adopted child is maturing and growing, becoming a responsible young adult. Finally, this belonging and becoming happens under the authority of the parents. The parents protect the culture of belonging, making sure the other children are led to accept their new brother or sister. And the parents protect the culture of becoming, making sure that their household is forming responsible young adults. In the same way, the church is the household of God, and every Christian is chosen by God to be an adopted son or daughter. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the truth of the Gospel, and faith in Jesus is how we are adopted in. Now we belong. But there are house rules, and we must become more like our Father. We must mature. And this happens through the authority of the local church, where elders – who must be godly and faithful big brothers in the faith – have the job of protecting a healthy culture of belonging and becoming in God’s household, the church. So today we will focus on belonging: 1.) True belonging 2.) False belonging 3.) The power of belonging