I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 28th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Exodus 1:1:

”Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household…”

Then we go straight to the Gospel of Mark 3:33-35:

”But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” 

I want to talk to you this morning about family. The first people that left Canaan and went down to Egypt were a family. Now Jesus was teaching and a messenger came and said, ”Your family is waiting outside to see you.” And He said, ”Who are My family?”

I want to say to you that spiritual ties are more important than biological ties. I am a family man myself, I’m very proud of my family, I’m proud of my roots, but I want to tell you, I met my real family when I gave my life to Jesus Christ. He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Do you know, we are in our sixth year of doing the thought for today? Some of you have been my family for six years and I’ve never seen you.

I want to tell you a little story. I went down to the spares department in a garage a couple of days ago to get a spare part. I walked out of the garage, said goodbye to everybody, got into my pickup and a young man came up to me. He walked up and his eyes were shining and his face was smiling. What a beautiful smile he had! He came up to me and he said, ”Baba Angus, I just wanted to shake your hand.” Now “baba” in Zulu means “father” and I said, ”And what is your name?” And he said, ”My name is Lethle.” “And where do I know you from, young man?”  “No, no,“ He said, ”this is the first time I’m meeting you.” He said, ”But I get your message every single morning and as far as I’m concerned, you are like a father to me.” I looked at this young man and I saw the love of Christ in his heart and we were able to pray together. I felt like I knew that young man better than some distant family members that I have never seen or heard from for years.

Today, maybe you are an orphan. Today, maybe you don’t have any biological family, but I want to tell you, if you know Jesus Christ, open your eyes and your ears, you have family all over the world. I’m your family, and every single day I meet with you, remember, I’m the friend that you need.

Have a beautiful day and remember, you are a member of a huge family!
Jesus bless you and goodbye.