I had the privilege of preaching at Grace Church of Memphis yesterday on the cosmic significance of adoption within the story of redemption. You can listen to it here.
One of my favorite scenes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (the book not the movie) takes place in the land of Rivendell after the hobbits, Frodo and Sam, almost lost their lives at the hands of those seeking to capture the ring of power and before they continued their dangerous journey to the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy the ring. J.R.R. Tolkien writes:
Such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song (The Fellowship of the Ring, 287).
The good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is of such a quality that the past, present, or imagined future, “good or ill, are not forgotten, but cease to have any power over the present.” We could write pages of application on this. If you are prone to worry about tomorrow, you need the gospel. If you tend to fear people or circumstances, you need the gospel. If you are paralyzed by regret or plagued by guilt, you need the gospel. Only the gospel can free us from these things.
One of the ways our family seeks to serve orphans is by praying for them at supper time. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to orphanages in China and Ethiopia. So I printed out pictures of orphans I’ve had the privilege of meeting on those trips and put them on our refrigerator. Each time we eat supper our children choose a different orphan to pray for. Once they’ve made their choice and have the picture of their orphan in hand, we talk about what it means for God to be a “father of the fatherless” and how He adopts us into His family. We then take turns praying for each of their orphans.
On Saturday our youngest (4) prayed for the little girl pictured in the middle of the far right column. Here’s what he prayed:
“Father, thank you for my wonderful family; and I love the orphan that I chose today. Give her a mommy and a daddy, some toys, a couch, and lots of food to eat for her tummy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Carolina Hope invites you to join us for an Ethiopia Orphan Benefit Dinner & Auction at Furman University (Greenville, SC) on Saturday, September 6, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
In addition to dinner, the fundraiser will feature…
» live musical entertainment
» a silent auction with jewelry, rounds of golf, clothing, home interior pieces, purses, spa treatments, a girls night out package, and more
Steven Curtis Chapman and family were interviewed on Good Morning America today about the death of Maria Sue Chunxi Chapman. Watch the interview here(Note: Interview begins with a short clip of the interview, moves into a commercial, and then shows the full seven minute interview).
Registration for Together for Adoption Conference 2008 is now open! Please join us for this unique event as we explore what our adoption in Christ means for us and for orphans.
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this” (C.S. Lewis).
Please take a few minutes to read and prayerfully consider this urgent request from John Fonville, blogger at Gospel Driven Blog, regarding the Frase family. My family has the privilege of eating dinner with them tonight. We are especially looking forward to meeting the Frase’s son Joshua.
In lieu of flowers, the Chapmans request that all gifts be directed to Maria’s Miracle Fund at Shaohannah’s Hope. You can donate here in memory of Maria Chapman.
A blog has been set up where you can leave a message for the Chapmans.
Justin Taylor introduces his sermon (23:35) on adoption by considering adoption within Islamic thought in contrast to its central importance within Christianity. I think you will find the entire sermon a great introduction to Scripture’s teaching on God’s gracious provision of adoption.
If my memory serves me correctly, this is the first Christmas I’ve actually celebrated my adoption into God’s family as I’ve celebrated God’s gift of His Son. If you think about it, what we celebrate during the Christmas season—God sending His Son to redeem us—was for the purpose of giving us adoption as sons. According to Paul, God the Father sent His eternal Son into the world so that we might receive the status of sons and eternally share in the Son’s communion with Him.
“When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:4-6).
One of my favorite scenes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (the book not the movie) takes place in the land of Rivendell after the hobbits, Frodo and Sam, almost lost their lives at the hands of those seeking to capture the ring of power and before they continued their dangerous journey to the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy the ring. J.R.R. Tolkien writes:
