The New Humanity is Family – Colossians
The New Humanity is Family
Sermon Manuscript | Together Church | Pastor Brandon & Jerry
May 24, 2026 | Series: Colossians
INTRODUCTION
Brandon
When Paul wrote this letter (that we call Colossians), he’s writing to a local church that he had never met in person.
Colossians 2:1
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face
Jerry
But, when we read the letter, it doesn’t come across impersonal, out of touch, or misinformed. Paul had been filled in by the faithful witness of Epaphras… a native to Colossae and an instrumental leader in that local church.
Colossians 1:7b-8
[Epaphras] is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
So when Paul wrote this letter, he wrote with intention and purpose.
Brandon
As we study Colossians, our challenge and delight will be to study each passage as part of the whole and never lose sight of Paul’s main purpose for writing this letter.
And this is Paul’s main purpose for writing this letter:
Paul wrote Colossians to show the church that God is creating a new humanity through faith in Jesus Christ… and he wanted them to live like they belong to it.
This “new humanity” has a name:
The new humanity is the Church of Jesus Christ.
Jerry
Truly, Paul’s letter to the Colossian church is a literary masterpiece, inspired by God, that defines God’s new humanity and describes what characterizes those who belong to it.
Brandon
So, with this main idea in mind, let’s dive deeper into these first eight verses of this book… and let’s unpack what Paul is saying about this new humanity.
Members of the new humanity…
- Believe they are brethren… they belong to a new family.
- Believe they are saints… they have a new identity.
- Believe they’ve been changed… their lives produce the fruit of faith, hope, and love.
That’s the three insights we came prepared to share, and we were going to share all three this morning…
But the Holy Spirit keeps changing our plans.
On Saturday, I came to my office to be alone and seek the Lord. In that time, it became clear to me that His message for us today is just in the first point. So, we’ll come back to the other two next week, Lord willing!
Are you ready to hear what the Lord has for you this morning?
Pray with me.
BODY
Members of the new humanity…
- Believe they are brethren… they belong to a new family.
Jerry
In the opening verses, Paul calls Timothy “our brother” and the members of the church his “brethren”. He’s calling them his family.
This is not a metaphor… Paul means this literally.
Brandon
Here’s Paul, a Jew, drafting a letter to Gentile people in a church he’s never met… and he calls the members of this church his “brethren” or family.
Jerry
And Paul doesn’t let up. He continues to describe the new humanity as family by identifying God as Father…
- In verse 2, Paul calls God “our Father”
- In verse 3, he calls God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
Brandon
Paul’s building out what the family of God looks like. Just picture that family (God as our Father, Jesus as our brother, and we are brothers and sisters in Christ).
Paul is saying we share a spiritual kinship because we have the same Father and we have the same older brother, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jerry
In Romans 8:29, Paul makes this familial structure of God’s new humanity and Jesus’ role in it explicitly clear…
Romans 8:29
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Brandon
You know what?
When we believe the new humanity is literally God’s family, it changes the way we live and how we relate to one another.
Jerry
Think about that for just a moment. God has a family, and if you are born again through faith in Jesus, you’ve been born into that family. Wow.
Brandon
Why is it so powerful when followers of Jesus believe this truth?
Here’s what we know instinctively about family…
- We LOVE our family
- Family comes first
- We will sacrifice for our family
- Our family deserves our focus and effort
- Families work together toward a common goal
- We prioritize our time and our money first with our family
- Our family should get our very best
Jerry
When you believe you are part of the new humanity, God changes your heart, so you love the things Jesus loves… and Jesus loves His family!
Brandon
How can we test that love in our hearts?
A simple way to test yourself is to examine your love and devotion to your local church. In the family of God, your local church is your immediate family.
Paul loved to hear that the local churches he was writing to were living in love towards one another! And he celebrated that love in this local church in the opening passage.
Colossians 1:7b-8
[Epaphras] is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
When Paul heard about the way this local church (this family) was living in love, he was thrilled.
Jerry
How would Paul feel if he received a report about you?
If Paul heard a detailed report about the way you love God’s family through your local church, would he be thrilled by that report?
What does your relationship and investment in your local church reveal about your love for Jesus and His family?
Brandon
Long before I became our Senior Pastor, God moved in my heart…
I developed a strong conviction that Jesus’ Church is God’s family and that my local church is my immediate family in the family of God.
One of the main ways the Lord helped me develop this heart was through the example of my parents.
I was so blessed to be raised in a Christian home with parents who were transparent and constantly growing in their love for Jesus and for the things He loves.
- My dad was constantly giving his time and energy to serve others in the church and to lead us to minister.
- I remember going to serve others, bring meals, and volunteer at the church so many times with my mom.
If you know my parents, you know this is true about them. They’re like Epaphrases in our church… they are people whose example challenges us all to agree with God that we are His family.
God used their example in my life to develop a conviction in me that you are my immediate family in the family of God… and that I should give my first and best to the Lord in the way I love this family.
But of all the positive things my parents did to help me develop this worldview, it was actually one of my dad’s weaknesses that had the greatest impact on my life.
I have his permission to share this.
When I was a teenager, I can remember a time when my dad’s example of loving God’s family through his local church was excellent in just about every way… except in his giving.
He would allow all kinds of thoughts to influence what he would give to the church or if he would even give at all.
- Did he feel like he had enough money to give?
- Was there something else he would rather give to or spend his money on?
- Was the church budget doing okay? If so, that could become an excuse not to give or to give to something else.
But I remember the Lord changing his heart.
He became convicted – by the scriptures, by the Holy Spirit, and through discipleship – that his heart was wrong… and he was transparent with me about it.
He apologized to our family and to others for not having the right heart towards the Lord and His Church – this family.
That was about 20 years ago or so. Since that time, my dad’s example is one that the Apostle Paul would be thrilled to hear about when it comes to his giving…
- My parents are faithful, generous, obedient, and cheerful in their giving to their immediate church family
- They prioritize God’s family and give their first and best gift to Jesus’ Church before they give anywhere else
- They have given faithfully despite incredible obstacles… including my dad being in a life-altering care accident that radically changed his income and ability to earn wages forever
- They just don’t make any excuses… they love Jesus by loving His Church through their giving with their immediate church family
The example of my parents has changed my life.
My first and best goes to the Lord by obediently and sacrificially giving to advance His Kingdom through my immediate church family right here.
Through their example – including their humility and transparency – I saw examples of how God changes the hearts and minds of His people. I got to see what happens when children of God believe God is creating a new humanity… and that new humanity is His Church, His family.
Jerry
I was another person Greg was transparent with 20 years ago.
Greg would be the first to tell you that his change of heart was difficult for him and that it ultimately came about by the grace of God.
What ultimately led to this change?
Greg realized he believed a lie from the enemy that caused him to excuse himself from loving God’s family the way God wanted him to.
Brandon
Satan is so cunning about that.
He fears a church that is united in their love for God and for the things God loves. He trembles at the thought of a local church that lives like they are God’s immediate family and believes God will use them for His glory.
So, he spins lies to limit and divide us.
Jerry
Satan is an excellent liar. His lies are very effective.
What is an effective lie?
An effective lie is any lie you are willing to believe that keeps you from walking in the truth!
If the lie was an obvious lie, you would reject it immediately, and it wouldn’t be effective.
So Satan tells lies that sound good to you… lies that appeal to your personal desires and your own reasoning.
Brandon
For example, Satan might tell you…
- Your investment is insignificant.
He presses in with lines like…
- What you have to offer doesn’t matter
- Your contribution is inconsequential
- You can’t make any real impact
But we know that, in a family, every person matters. It isn’t just about what we have to give, it is about how God uses it.
And the first way God uses your gift is to change your own heart.
He uses what you give to increase your love for Him and His people.
Jerry
That’s true. And we also know God is the master at taking small things and using them to make a huge impact for His glory.
We should never underestimate what God can do when small things are entrusted fully to Him.
Brandon
God wants to foster a deep love for Him and His family in our church. Believing a lie like “your investment is insignificant” is just a play from our enemy to undermine our love for God’s family and our confidence in how God is willing to use us for His glory.
Jerry
Satan may spin that lie, or he may throw you one on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. Another lie Satan might tell you is…
- You need to hold back what you could give.
Brandon
If Satan can’t slow or stop the way you love your immediate church family by making you think you have too little to offer, he may try to do it by convincing you that you have too much to offer and you need to hold back.
He may whisper things like…
- “You need to be careful not to become too invested.”
- “Don’t become too committed to one church.”
- “You should hold back some of what you could give.”
- “Your generosity could be better used somewhere else.”
- “You don’t want the church depending too much on you.”
Jerry
Let me give you an example…
Some of you may recognize this report.
This is a snapshot of the general budget giving in our church this year.
We want to celebrate and thank the Lord that the weekly giving has exceeded the budget requirement so far this year!
But here’s what I know…
Some of you are looking at this and using it to limit what you give.
Let me ask you, from God’s perspective…
Do you think that this report should really determine where the members of our church give the first portion of their income or what percentage they give?
Brandon
There’s a trust factor involved when we relinquish control to the Lord.
He doesn’t call us to control the outcomes. He calls us to trust Him and His Church as we give faithfully, obediently, cheerfully, and sacrificially.
How much would you have to give to give sacrificially?
That amount is different for all of us.
What keeps you from trusting the Lord with a sacrificial and obedient investment like that?
Jerry
Perhaps you know the Lord is stirring this in you right now, but you feel you need clarity.
If you have questions or concerns about how a gift would be used, wouldn’t it be better to talk to the leadership about it then to just withhold it?
Brandon
We say this all the time…
We believe what God is doing here is bigger than us.
But if we are unwilling to join Him in what He is doing, He will use someone else. We don’t want to miss out on the joy of being part of what He is doing!
We all have a part to play. Let’s not limit God.
Jerry
Doing our part begins with believing we belong to God’s new humanity… and that means we belong to a new family.
And our church is the immediate family in the family of God. We bring our first and best to our family. We work together to fulfill the vision and mission God has given us.
Brandon
There’s always a trust factor in a family.
God is so wise. He doesn’t let anyone off the hook. Whether we have a lot or a little, our obedience in giving to Jesus’ Church forces us to increase our trust in God.
Jerry
And that’s what God is really doing here.
He’s using His Church and the fact that the new humanity is a family to grow our dependance on Him as Father, Jesus as Brother, and our spiritual kinship in the family of God.
CONCLUSION
Brandon
Before the Lord changed my dad’s heart, he had an error in his reasoning. Something that God wanted to use to INCREASE his love for God’s family had become a barrier to it.
But when the Lord changed his heart, that barrier became an opportunity to grow in love for the family of God.
Jerry
God is creating a new humanity… and that new humanity has a name: it is the Church of Jesus Christ… the FAMILY OF GOD.
And this local church is our immediate family in God’s family.
This is the place where Jesus wants us to practice loving one another, serving one another, trusting one another, and laying down our lives for each other… because we are God’s family.
INVITATION
Brandon
How do you need to respond to this message?
We set aside some time last Sunday to respond to the Lord. Let’s do that again.
Let’s pray out loud, all at once to the Lord:
- First, “God, what do you want to show me?”
- Now, pray, “God increase my love for You and for Your family… especially for those in my immediate church family.
- Now, ask the Lord to show you how you’ve been holding back. Commit to do whatever He asks.
Time of Ministry:
We are a family.
There’s probably some here who need the support of their family right now.
If you haven’t already, we encourage you to join a small group. Sometimes, it can feel difficult to find your place in a family. Small groups ease that burden and help you connect relationally with members of this immediate church family.
But we want to create an opportunity to let love increase in our church family this morning.
So, to close the service, this will be our time of ministry to one another. Who needs the support of their family today through prayer?
- Perhaps you’re going through something really hard.
- Or you feel discouraged.
- Or you’re tired.
- Or you feel like you’re alone.
If that is you, this is God’s family… and we are here for you.
Family stands together and prays together.
Pastor Seth is going to lead us in a couple songs. While we sing, we’re going to have a time of ministry.
If you need prayer, you can get it right here. In just a moment, when I give the call, all you have to do is stand up.
Together Church, we are calling on you to respond like family. If someone stands, let’s surround them and pray for them.
Here are your guidelines:
- Someone in the prayer circle asks: “How can we pray for you?”
- When they ask, be brief and clear on what you need prayer for.
- Tell them you are going to pray, and ask if it is okay if some lay hands on you to pray (men with men and women with women)
- Then pray for them. Pause when you finish and others can pray.
This first song is one our Praise Team will pray over us to start this time of ministry and prayer. Then we will stand and sing a final song together.
MINISTRY SONG: The Blessing (special music)
CLOSING SONG: The Family of God (classic, hymn)