Our Family
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A Father's Heart
Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son. This story is a wonderful picture of God's love for us. In the story the son begs to leave his father's house. The father grants the sons wish giving him his portion of the inheritances. After living a wild life of sin and fleshly pleasure, the son finds himself out of money and begging for food. Once he reaches the bottom of the barrel, eating from the pig trough, he realizes that the servants in his father's house have it better. Walking toward the farm that he once called home, his father sees him in the distance and runs to him. He throws his arms around him and welcomes him back into the family. With loving arms outspread for us, our heavenly father runs toward us compelling us to join his family. In this way we, the gentiles, are adopted into his family. Forever grafted in as sons and daughters of the most high God. We are joint heirs with the Son. The one that is higher than any other. The one that is more beautiful than a field of wild flowers, stronger than the force of a hurricane, and as gentle as a dove. He is the one that gives our lives meaning and hope, not only for today, but also for the future. Our hope rests in Him. Our loving and eternal King welcomes us, he also bids us to gather others. The spirit of adoption is this. To love beyond all human reason, to give hope, and to welcome into our families as Christ has graciously welcomed us. Not only will the life of a child be changed but ours as well.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
God's Heart for Children
Here are my sermon notes from this past Sunday. I hope it causes you to thimk!
I. Introduction:
• Today as we are gathered, churches all over the nation are focused on children.
• This is Sanctity of Life Sunday.
• It is a day when we express our opposition to the world’s view.
• We believe that children are created in the image of their maker from the moment of conception.
• Abortion is rampant and those who dare to stand against this horrible practice are hated.
• Our nation grants women the freedom of choice, but few think that the innocent life within her has no choice.
• This morning I declare to you that God loves children.
• He died on the cross for them just as he did for you and me.
• He loves them and cares for them.
• My title this morning is, “God’s Heart for Children”
• I want us to look at how God views children.
• Prayer
II. He Plans:
• Jere. 1:5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
III. He Parents:
• Psalm 68:5-6 “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy.6 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”
IV. He Provides:
• Deut. 24:19 “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.”
V. He Protects:
• Deut. 10:18 “He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.”
VI. He Pursues:
• Eph. 1:3-5 “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
VII. Conclusion:
• Our God plans, parents, provides, protects, and pursues children.
• Why, because He loves His children.
• He loves them with an unending love.
• He cries with the child in Africa who has no food.
• He hurts with the child that hides in the dark because he is afraid of being hit again.
• He hears the prayers of the orphan begging Him for a family.
• He sees the innocent child that had no chance at life because of a mother’s choice.
• He bears their burdens.
• He heals their hearts.
• He comforts them in times of distress.
• God does not stop there.
• He calls us to do the same.
• James 1:27 “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”
• Listen to the Father’s heart this morning.
• It is a heart filled with love and compassion.
• Children around the world are hurting.
• Gov. Mike Huckabee describes being pro-life as not only defending the unborn, but improving life after birth for all children.
• Along these line the Assemblies of God Foreign Missions Dept. has proclaimed 2011 the Year of the Child with the theme, no child without.
• God has called us to a greater purpose than ourselves.
• To this call we rise, to this call we answer, “God I will defend them!”
• Prayer for God to:
o Forgive us of our sins against children.
o Raise up workers for children around the world.
o Give us a heart of compassion and love for kids.
o Use us to touch their lives.
I. Introduction:
• Today as we are gathered, churches all over the nation are focused on children.
• This is Sanctity of Life Sunday.
• It is a day when we express our opposition to the world’s view.
• We believe that children are created in the image of their maker from the moment of conception.
• Abortion is rampant and those who dare to stand against this horrible practice are hated.
• Our nation grants women the freedom of choice, but few think that the innocent life within her has no choice.
• This morning I declare to you that God loves children.
• He died on the cross for them just as he did for you and me.
• He loves them and cares for them.
• My title this morning is, “God’s Heart for Children”
• I want us to look at how God views children.
• Prayer
II. He Plans:
• Jere. 1:5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
III. He Parents:
• Psalm 68:5-6 “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy.6 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”
IV. He Provides:
• Deut. 24:19 “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.”
V. He Protects:
• Deut. 10:18 “He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.”
VI. He Pursues:
• Eph. 1:3-5 “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
VII. Conclusion:
• Our God plans, parents, provides, protects, and pursues children.
• Why, because He loves His children.
• He loves them with an unending love.
• He cries with the child in Africa who has no food.
• He hurts with the child that hides in the dark because he is afraid of being hit again.
• He hears the prayers of the orphan begging Him for a family.
• He sees the innocent child that had no chance at life because of a mother’s choice.
• He bears their burdens.
• He heals their hearts.
• He comforts them in times of distress.
• God does not stop there.
• He calls us to do the same.
• James 1:27 “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”
• Listen to the Father’s heart this morning.
• It is a heart filled with love and compassion.
• Children around the world are hurting.
• Gov. Mike Huckabee describes being pro-life as not only defending the unborn, but improving life after birth for all children.
• Along these line the Assemblies of God Foreign Missions Dept. has proclaimed 2011 the Year of the Child with the theme, no child without.
• God has called us to a greater purpose than ourselves.
• To this call we rise, to this call we answer, “God I will defend them!”
• Prayer for God to:
o Forgive us of our sins against children.
o Raise up workers for children around the world.
o Give us a heart of compassion and love for kids.
o Use us to touch their lives.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Mission 1:27 E-Touch
Dear Friends and Family,
All around the world children are hungry and hurting. Millions walk the streets begging for their next meal. With no shoes, no clean clothes, they walk; sleeping wherever they can, in drainage ditches, sewers, and trash heaps.
Into this world of darkness and despair a light shines. Missionary workers seek to provide all that they can to help these little ones. Often it is not enough. For that reason my/our church has formed Mission 1:27. Our purpose is to help provide the needs of these kids. Current projects include: rice and beans, remodel work on buildings, a security wall, small prizes, shoes and uniforms, school tuition, and many more.
Please join me in supporting their E-Touch campaign. Help touch the lives of these kids around the world. From Haiti to the Philippines, from Europe to Africa, these kids are desperately in need.
You can give a donation of any amount by going to www.mission127.com. There is a PayPal Donation link there or if you would prefer send a donation to: Mission 1:27, PO Box 99086, Louisville, KY 40269. All donations are tax deductible.
Please help us make E-Touch a great success. There is over $10,000 in projects waiting. Please forward this to anyone that might be willing to help.
Mission 1:27 is also an adoption advocate. They would be happy to answer any questions you might have about adoption. Email them at: info@mission127.com
For His Children,
Darren
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Walmart
Your mom and I have always been Walmart shoppers. Not for everything, but usually for groceries. Saturday night they sponsored a wonderful movie, "A Change of Plans". The purpose was to bring focus to the need of adoption and foster care. It was a wonderful, heartwarming movie. It painted the challenges and the success with equal honesty. After the movie Walmart sponsored a live forum for answering questions and information.
No matter what issues others have with Walmart, we are now life long loyal customers. Thank you Walmart for bring light to this topic. I hope many children will find families because of your efforts.
Our process continues to move forward...although slowly. We are excited to find a few children on the waiting kids list that might fit the with the family. We are praying that you will be the perfect child for us.
Love,
Daddy
No matter what issues others have with Walmart, we are now life long loyal customers. Thank you Walmart for bring light to this topic. I hope many children will find families because of your efforts.
Our process continues to move forward...although slowly. We are excited to find a few children on the waiting kids list that might fit the with the family. We are praying that you will be the perfect child for us.
Love,
Daddy
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
God You Are Awesome!
This week we will go through the final of three interviews for our homestudy. It will be great to have one more thing checked off the list. At this meeting we will owe our first large sum of money. Sunday we were short around $400-$500. Sunday night we received a check for $550. God is so faithful to us. Each time He performs a little miracle it just reinforces that we are doing the right thing. We know God has a great plan for your life. That plan, in God's wisdom and timing, includes us.
All during the Christmas break your sister and brother begged us to buy a stocking for you. Well after Christmas we purchased the first item that will be yours. You now have a moose stocking and holder. Whether you are with us by next Christmas or not, we will hang your stocking with the rest of the families.
We pray for you everyday and hope that your arrival will come sooner rather than later.
Love,
Daddy
All during the Christmas break your sister and brother begged us to buy a stocking for you. Well after Christmas we purchased the first item that will be yours. You now have a moose stocking and holder. Whether you are with us by next Christmas or not, we will hang your stocking with the rest of the families.
We pray for you everyday and hope that your arrival will come sooner rather than later.
Love,
Daddy
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
"Lord, help us adopt a kid soon"
Another Christmas has come and gone. What a wonderful celebration of Christ's birth. Surrounded by family and friends the holiday is a time of thankfulness for what blessing God has given to us and to think of those who do without. Christ's gift reminds us that children are at the crux of God's great plan for humanity. No other group is more sweet, loving, innocent, and hopeful. No other group is more fragile and easily harmed.
Tonight our son prayed a simple prayer from the purity of his 6 year old heart. "Lord, help us to adopt a kid soon." He has no concept of time or space, money or process. He simply knows that His God can the power to answer his precious prayer.
As Jesus taught his disciples, we must become like little children. What if we prayed and believed as Micah Pat does. What if we simply said what we desired and expected our God to do it. No worry about the details Lord, they are in Your hands.
So in the inspiring words of your brother, "Lord, help us to adopt a kid soon.
Love Daddy
Tonight our son prayed a simple prayer from the purity of his 6 year old heart. "Lord, help us to adopt a kid soon." He has no concept of time or space, money or process. He simply knows that His God can the power to answer his precious prayer.
As Jesus taught his disciples, we must become like little children. What if we prayed and believed as Micah Pat does. What if we simply said what we desired and expected our God to do it. No worry about the details Lord, they are in Your hands.
So in the inspiring words of your brother, "Lord, help us to adopt a kid soon.
Love Daddy
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Simplicity of Christmas
Before I write my blog for the day, I want to give a quick update on our process. We had our first homestudy interview last night. All went well. We should be able ro complete this by the New Year. It is very exciting to have this process started. As we move toward the in home interview, we need to raise and additional $1,000. Please pray with us. God has provided all that we have needed so far. I know He will contniue to do so.
Please enjoy reading!
For so many Christmas is a time of stress. Having to find the right gift for every person on your list, trying to get the house decorated, cleaned for company, meals made, and all the other details we feel have to be done. Tonight I want us to take a step back and focus on the simplicity of Christmas. God did not intend for us to get so stressed out that we lose sight of His greatest and most simple message. That message rang out as shepherds ran to a stable and kings bowed at a manger. The message still rings true today. God loves you. The simple act of a baby’s birth told of us God’s great love.
Luke 2:6-7 “And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”
It was a simple star that led simple people to a simple stable in a simple town to find the simplicity of God’s love in the form of a simple child. Think of all the things God has ever done for you, all the things He has given you. Of all of this the simplest thing that He has given is Himself. We try to make everything that God does some complex act with multiple meanings. Let us not lose focus this Christmas that love is the crux of all the complexity in the scripture and in our spiritual lives. Love is a simple emotion. We easily feel it toward a hundred things every day. Love is not complex, relationships and learning to deal with this most powerful emotion confuses us into thinking that love is somehow a high reality that we can never attain. Why did God send His son in the form of a baby? Because He loves you.
Why did that baby teach us all that we needed to know? Because He loves you. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because He loves you.
John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Christmas emphasizes God’s love toward us and it should also emphasize our love toward others. You want to know how to love? Jesus tells us in Luke 22:25-26 ‘Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant”. Serve someone as an act of love. Go out of your way to do something for someone you would not normally so. As you come to a new realization of God’s love for you this season, show that love to others as well. Have you accepted God’s love? There is no better time than today!
Please enjoy reading!
For so many Christmas is a time of stress. Having to find the right gift for every person on your list, trying to get the house decorated, cleaned for company, meals made, and all the other details we feel have to be done. Tonight I want us to take a step back and focus on the simplicity of Christmas. God did not intend for us to get so stressed out that we lose sight of His greatest and most simple message. That message rang out as shepherds ran to a stable and kings bowed at a manger. The message still rings true today. God loves you. The simple act of a baby’s birth told of us God’s great love.
Luke 2:6-7 “And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”
It was a simple star that led simple people to a simple stable in a simple town to find the simplicity of God’s love in the form of a simple child. Think of all the things God has ever done for you, all the things He has given you. Of all of this the simplest thing that He has given is Himself. We try to make everything that God does some complex act with multiple meanings. Let us not lose focus this Christmas that love is the crux of all the complexity in the scripture and in our spiritual lives. Love is a simple emotion. We easily feel it toward a hundred things every day. Love is not complex, relationships and learning to deal with this most powerful emotion confuses us into thinking that love is somehow a high reality that we can never attain. Why did God send His son in the form of a baby? Because He loves you.
Why did that baby teach us all that we needed to know? Because He loves you. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because He loves you.
John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Christmas emphasizes God’s love toward us and it should also emphasize our love toward others. You want to know how to love? Jesus tells us in Luke 22:25-26 ‘Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant”. Serve someone as an act of love. Go out of your way to do something for someone you would not normally so. As you come to a new realization of God’s love for you this season, show that love to others as well. Have you accepted God’s love? There is no better time than today!
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