Introduction
One of God's greatest blessings to humankind is the family. Although families come in a variety of sizes and shapes, God cares for and loves each one. Families are important in our society today. However, our culture, as viewed through the lens of media, not only reflects what is happening with families today, but also influences the dynamics of family and what families do. By focusing attention on the family during Health Promotion Sunday, we will engage the health and wholeness of families.

Families struggle with many kinds of issues and demands. But in our struggles today, we can reflect on how God fits into the family structure as well as what scripture has to say about the family. One important feature of the church, sometimes neglected, is that the church is a family made up of brothers and sisters in Christ. With God's grace we will explore how God connects families and brings them into wholeness with God's self. The goal is for each person and the group as a whole to connect the idea of family to the church and the idea of church/God to family. So often, we separate the idea of family from who the church is. Our goal is to reclaim our family (the church) both in the congregations we attend and the homes in which we live.

Materials needed: marker, easel with newsprint; or chalk board; or dry-erase board, Bibles, concordance, paper, writing utensils, items for worship center (see options one and two below).

Create a Worshipful Space
In small group or Sunday School setting, it is important to remember why we have gathered. We gather in the name of Christ. One helpful way to stay focused during class or meeting is to have a worship center in the room. It can be very simple, maybe just a candle.

Option One:
It may be helpful to create a worship center for the group using symbols of the church family.

1. You may want to collect items such as a Bible, candle, cross, feetwashing basin and towel, etc., that represent the rituals the church family celebrates.
2. Also, you might include items specific to your church, such as, a picture directory or photos from church events.

Option Two: (Recommended)
Each person who attends the group can bring in an item. This would have to be announced in advance to the group. Each person is invited to bring in an item that serves as a symbol of their family or what they believe family means. For example, items from a family vacation, photo albums, pictures of the family, books the family has read together, or symbols of things the family does together.

In creating a worshipful space, the group will not be worshiping the items placed before them, but rather the items will help them to focus on the theme for the lesson. It works well to arrange the seats in a circle and have the worship center in the middle.

Opening
Every group opens their time together in different ways. Feel free to continue in your usual pattern, and then work in the worship center to the gathering time.

Option One (A and B): The leader who arranged the worship center opens by sharing about the worship center. He or she may want to explain why the items are there, how it felt arranging the worship center, or asking if anyone would have added anything to it.

Option Two: The leader can work the worship center into the opening time by asking each person to share what item they brought and why it symbolizes their family. Items can be placed on the worship center after each person shares. You may want to have a central symbol for Christ such as a candle and build the worship center around it with the items each person brought. Close this time with a prayer or hymn.

Discussion Starter
Object: Discovering today's families.
Ask the group, "What family structures exist in our society and culture today?" Write responses on newsprint so the entire group can see the list. Encourage all responses. This is the time to name different family structures and view them together, without judging which one is best.

After the group is done, ask:

1. What makes these family structures different?
2. What is the same about the family structures we named?

Object: Discovering biblical families.
Form two groups. One group will work with the Old Testament and the other with the New Testament. If there are only two are three people in the class, work together making a list as done during the discussion starter.

Both groups working separately, ask the first group to identify families and various family structures in the Old Testament, and ask the second group to do the same with families in the New Testament. (A concordance may be useful for this exercise.) Ask one person in each group to serve as "recorder" writing the group's work on a piece of newsprint.

Bring the two groups together. Ask each group to share what they discovered about families and family structures in the Scriptures. You may want to post the newsprint on the wall with masking tape.

Ask the group to reflect on these biblical families and structures using the questions below. This is not a comparison between Old and New Testament, but among all the biblical families and structures named throughout the exercise.

1. What makes these family structures different?
2. What is the same about these family structures?

Applying the Theme
What conclusions can be drawn from the work the group has just done? Respond to the following questions:

1. What makes a family healthy?
2. What are the characteristics of strong families?
3. What are the features of weak or unhealthy families?
4. Give examples of both biblical and modern day examples of healthy and unhealthy families.

Engaging Scripture
Ephesians 1:3-14 (Galatians 4:1-7; Romans 8:14-17) Scripture Focus Eph. 1:5 "He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will."

The family is more than the nuclear family. Family is community. The church is one family. Through Jesus Christ, we are brothers and sisters adopted into the family of God. The church is one body, one extended family. Different congregations have different structures. As the church we are the adopted children of God through Christ. Each one has equal "rights" and "inheritance" to God's resources.

Object: Engage the scriptures by reading the following scripture selections and responding to the questions that follow:

Ephesians 1:3-14

1. What are your first impressions?
2. What stood out the most for you?
3. What does it mean to be adopted through Jesus Christ?
4. How does it feel to be an heir of God?

Galatians 4:1-7

1. How does slavery fit into the context of adoption?
2. How can we be children of God?
3. What does this text tell us about the family of God?
4. How does it connect with Ephesians 1?

Note: In Roman law, adopted children had the same rights and privileges as biological children. Even children who were once slaves were given equal rights when adopted into a family. Adopted children of God share with Jesus all rights to God's resources.

Romans 8:14-17

1. Who are the children of God?
2. How does the Spirit work in the context of "adoption"?
3. What does it mean to be a joint heir?
4. How does this text relate to Galatians 4:5-7?

Connecting the Scriptures to Your Group's Experience of Church

1. How is the church a family?
2. Describe the church family structure.
3. How is it similar and different to the current and biblical structures named earlier?
4. How can our church family be a witness to secular families?

Closing
Return attention to the worship center. Recall the items that were described in the opening.

Option One: (relates to both A and B) Recall the rituals of the church or the symbols of the church family. Allow time for the group to reflect on how the "extended family" of the church works in our households and nuclear family. After some time of silence, invite the members of the group to share their thoughts. Inviting questions might include:

1. How can our households and nuclear families incorporate the life of the church family into daily living?
2. What can our families do to connect the rituals in church with our family traditions and rituals?

Option Two: Recall the family symbols that each person brought. Ask the members of the group to reflect/meditate on what items they would have brought to represent the church family. After some time of reflection, invite everyone to share what they would have brought to the worship center to represent the church as family and why. As a small part of the larger church family, create a meaningful ritual to celebrate your relationship. Below are several ready-to-use suggestions.

1. Form a circle holding hands for prayer. There are many ways of praying in a group. Some ideas include: one person says a prayer aloud; everyone is given opportunity to pray aloud and one person will volunteer to close; silent prayer; guided meditation/prayer; one word prayer.
2. Share in a time of ritual or tradition practiced in the congregation. For example, feetwashing, anointing, communion.
3. Make a covenant with one another. The covenant can center on a common theme that has come up during the session or any other act/belief that the group feels is important in celebrating the family.
4. Use a church picture directory or pictures from church events and add them to the worship center. Allow time for members of the group to pray for the people in a particular picture or light a candle for that person.
5. Celebrate the adoption of each person into the Body of Christ by sharing/reflecting upon each person's baptism. (Keep in mind that not everyone in the group may have been baptized).
6. Make a word or picture collage (any size). Use pictures and/or words that tell about memories of our church family, favorite things about the church, celebrations the church has had, etc.
7. Make a weaving using fabric strips. Bring same size strips of fabric that are different colors and have different designs. Allow each person to chose a strip of cloth keeping in mind how it will represent our church family. Go around the room having each person share how or why their strip represents our congregation. Then have each person add the strips to make a weaving. It could be done on the floor, table or worship center. It may be helpful to write down what each strip represents.
8. Bake bread together. Start the bread at the beginning of class and at the end share in a time of communion.
9. Use the Hymnal, A Worship Book. Sing a song, pray through a hymn, read the lyrics as a responsive or unison reading, or teach it to the congregation. Some hymn suggestions that are appropriate to the theme of family are:

   For the beauty of the earth, No. 89; God of Eve and God of Mary, No. 492; Help us to help each other, No. 362; Lord of the home, No. 490; When love is found, No. 623 (From Hymnal: A Worship Book).

   The praise song "The Family of God" is good for this lesson.
10. Using For All Who Minister and/or Hymnal: A Worship Book, read the child blessing/dedications. An option would be to have each person insert his/her own name in place of the child's name.