Family Connect
God’s Unit of LoveGenesis 18:19 – “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” (NIV)
The Bible says that God is love. In 1 John 4:7-21, the popular passage about God’s love for us and therefore why we should love one another, the writer starts off like this in verses 7 and 8: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” What does the writer mean when he says that God is love? God represents ultimate love. True love resides in Him. As His children, we then ought to love one another.
The family is God’s gift to us – a representation of the love that God wants us to have for one another. The love we share among one another in the family is a witness of our love for God. John 15:12-13 says: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
The Family Ministry at New Life Fellowship (NLF) City Church Bangalore is built on this foundational principle of love for God as reflected in our love for one another. The ministry is committed to enabling families in the church and outside to thrive, flourish, and serve as witnesses of God’s love as shown through His sacrifice of His only begotten Son for us. Jesus died on our behalf for our sins and rose again so that we could rise with Him to new life, clothed in His righteousness. (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Ministry Focus
The ministry focuses on three key aspects of the family – marriage, pre-marital, and parenting.
Marriage: In the case of married couples, we will reach out to those in need or support couples who approach us first, and offer professional counselling based on God’s Word, the Bible. These counselling sessions will be private and confidential and we will ensure consistent follow-up with the couples in a private setting to ensure they are able to talk to us and share their burdens with us before the Lord, so that we can pray together with them and encourage them in the Lord.
We also seek to organize family life seminars and workshops, where experts will be brought in to talk about specific topics pertinent to married couples and answer the questions of participants.
Pre-Marital Counselling: Here, we organize pre-marital counselling sessions for couples seeking to be married, explaining the principles of marriage based on God’s Word, and His expectations from people, so that we can thrive in our marriages. We also offer practical tips for facing life’s challenges as married couples, so that couples start off and continue right in this most important of journeys.
Parenting: At every stage of life, people need the support of wise counsel, especially from the Church. We seek to support parents who are facing challenges at various stages, or even who just require a spiritual support system to build them up in the Lord. The Church seeks to be God’s refuge for those in need.