Beyond Borders Expanding our Understanding of Family A Study of Romans 9:1:9 on the daily Bible refresh hello my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.

This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.

In a bit I will read the New Testament lessons selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.

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Here's today's reading from Romans 9:1:9 reading from the message God is calling his people.

At the same time you need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow.

It's an enormous pain deep within me and I'm never free of it.

I'm not exaggerating.

Christ and the Holy Spirit are my witnesses.

It's the Israelites.

If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by Him, I'd do it in a minute.

They're my family.

I grew up with them.

They had everything going for them.

Family, glory, covenants, revelation, worship, promises.

To say nothing of being the race that produced the Messiah, the Christ who has God over everything always.

Oh yes.

Don't suppose for a moment, though, that God's word has malfunctioned in some way or another.

The problem goes back a long way from the outset.

Not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites in the Spirit.

It wasn't Abraham's sperm that gave identity here, but God's promise.

Remember how it was put?

Your family will be defined by Isaac.

That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God determined by promise.

Remember that promise When I come back next year at this time, Sarah will have a son.

Well, in today's reflection we're really talking about here about Paul's powerful meditation, all about identity and belonging and just the expansive nature of God's divine love.

Let's get into some points to ponder the first about love that goes beyond boundaries.

Paul's deep anguish for his Jewish family reveals the complexity of belonging and identity as progressive Christians.

This invites us to examine how we hold both our particular communities and our universal connections.

And it challenges us to consider how do we honor our specific traditions or while working towards inclusive liberation of all?

A second point is about reimagining promise.

The Bible text here emphasizes that identity comes through promise rather than bloodline.

This radical notion suggests that belonging is about commitment and shared values rather than genetics or nationality.

In our era of rising nationalism and exclusion, this offers a powerful alternative vision of community based on love and justice rather than ancestry or borders.

Then there's the spirit of inclusion as the second point.

Paul's distinction between Israelites of the flesh and Israelites of the Spirit isn't about replacement theology or supersessionalism.

Rather, it points to how divine love consistently breaks through human made barriers.

This invites us to examine where we might be creating artificial boundaries in our own communities and how we might practice more radical inclusion let's talk about an action step this week.

Identify a group or community that you've consciously or unconsciously considered, quote other and make a concrete effort to learn about their experiences.

Maybe read their stories or attend an event or engage in some meaningful conversation and reply and reflect about how this experience challenges or expands your understanding of family and belonging with a closing prayer here in just a minute after we share with you that we have a great resource just for you.

It's the ABC123 Bible study method.

It's a great help for your at home Bible study so pick it up@voiceofgoddaily.com it's free to you.

Let's pray.

Oh God, you're the south of boundless source of boundless love.

We confess our tendency to draw circles that exclude to define family narrowly, to mistake privilege for promise.

Open our hearts to a larger vision of belonging where differences enrich rather than divide, where your love knows no borders and where all are welcomed as family.

Help us hold our own traditions with gentle hands while reaching across divisions to create a beloved community.

In hope and openness we pray.

Amen.

My friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.

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My name is Dr. Brad Miller and.

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Remember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up.

It's created new every morning.