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A Family Bigger Than Blood - Thursday, 08/20/2026

Scripture: Mark 3:31–35 

This is one of the more surprising moments in the Gospels — Jesus, in front of a crowd, redefining family right in front of his own biological family. He's not rejecting his mother and brothers. He's expanding the definition of who belongs, refusing to let bloodline be the only qualification for closeness.

That matters for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider to the word “family” — the person who's single, the widow, the divorced parent, the person estranged from relatives, the person whose closest people share no last name with them at all. Jesus says clearly: if you're doing the will of God alongside others, you already belong to a family. This is good news for every kind of household represented in our church this week.

Reflection Question:  Who in your life has become family to you, even without a blood or legal connection? Have you told them that lately?

Today's Application:  Reach out today to someone who has become “family” to you in a non-traditional way — a call, a text, or a visit that says, you matter to me.

Prayer:  God, thank you for making room for all of us at your table. Where we feel left out of “family,” remind us that you have already called us in. Amen.