In today's lesson, we kick off our new series in the book of Ruth to talk about what it *really* means to be part of a family and who we as Christians are to consider our family. And as a celebration of Orphan Care Sunday, we also take a look at the significance of adoption.

Key Text: Ruth 1:1-5

Faithfulness is committing to a cause or a person for the long haul. This kind of commitment is KEY in ALL relationships – marriage, family, church, small group, work, etc… However, this kind of commitment isn’t easy. Struggling with “commitment issues” is a human issue that we all deal with. But the Bible gives us beautiful examples of HOW to be faithful and show us that faithfulness brings blessings that cannot be had any other way.

Key Text: Ruth 1:6-18

Life is often bitter; but God is better. By looking at how God deals with Naomi in the book of Ruth, we can learn that God remains with us even when we're suffering. We can see that God will give us the provision we need when things are hard. And we can see that God will redeem every circumstance through His grace and power.

Key Text: Ruth 1:19-2:9

The driving action of the book of Ruth is KINDNESS: Ruth was kind to Naomi, Boaz was kind to Ruth, and God was kind to them all.

But what IS kindness, exactly?

Kindness is the application of love — where love is a decision or commitment towards someone's best interests. Kindness is the expression of that commitment. It is more than just being nice.

In this sermon, we will explore kindness within our families and in the lives of those around us.

Key Text: Ruth 2:11-23

The words "redemption" and "redeemer" appear many times in Ruth chapter 3. This describes the Israelites' social custom of rescuing family members from poverty, which is what Boaz did when he married Ruth and provided for her and Naomi.

Just think about how beautiful and life changing and that act of faithfulness would be not just for the rescued, but for the rescuer, too!

We still have the opportunity to be redeemers today, with that same life changing effect. We can look beyond our own hurts and struggles to redeem our relationships because we know that God has redeemed us through Jesus!

Key Text: Ruth 3:1-18

It's no secret that marriage and family are a high priority for God. Scripture gives us a lot of instruction and anecdote about how marriage and family relations should (and shouldn't) be.

It's particularly important for us, as Christians, to view marriage through the lens of the Spiritual even more than we do through the lens of the physical.

Key Texts: Ruth 4:1-12 & Galatians 5:18-24

Isn't it amazing? God can use seemingly insignificant things — a farming town, a poor, foreign widow, and a randomly selected field — all to save humanity!

It was God who brought that poor widow (Ruth) to that farming town (Bethlehem), where she would randomly choose to glean in a filed belonging to Boaz, a distant relative of her late husband, who redeemed her through marriage. And Jesus was born from their lineage as the one who would redeem the world through his sacrifice!

In the same way, God can take the insignificant moments in our life — simple decisions, acts of righteousness or love, even our pain — and do something awesome with them. Since this is true, we can look at the sacredness of all that we do.

God is working ALL things together for our good. Merry Christmas!

Key Text: Ruth 4:13-22