Adopted Into The Family

Adopted Into The Family

The first Sunday of June I talked a little about how I came to know Christ as my Lord and Savior. The anniversary of that date was May 11. On that day every year I take inventory of how much God changed the course of my life and how much more He wants to mold me into the likeness of His Son. When I was young, I grew up in a jewish neighborhood in New York City. I knew that the jewish people were God’s chosen people people. What I didn’t know was that Jesus Christ came to the Jew first and then the gentile, people like me, and through the spirit of adoption, I too, could become part of God’s family. I was to find that out after I began to study his Word. God wants all of us to become part of His family.


When we are adopted or born into a family we have a birthday just as I have my personal day of physical birth and the anniversary day of my spiritual birth, the church, the body of Christ, has a birthday. This birthday is fifty days after Easter, hence the name Pentecost. Today is the Feast of Pentecost. The scripture reading tells us a miracle happened that day. It was the jewish Feast of Pentecost or First Fruits.This festival is also known as the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16)(Numbers 28:26) one of two agricultural thanksgiving days ordained by God to the jewish people. This one celebrated the spring grain harvest in ancient Israel (Exodus 23:16).
When celebrating this festival, Jewish people recall one of the greatest events in history, God's revealing of the law at Mount Sinai, said to occur at precisely this time.

But Pentecost doesn't just picture the giving of the law; it also shows—through a great miracle that occurred on the first Pentecost in the early Church—how to keep the spiritual intent of God's laws so that we can be Christ’s ambassadors to the world.

Jesus’s last words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven according to the books of Acts was : “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Later Jesus had told them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

On this particular Feast of Pentecost, ten days after Jesus had ascended into heaven, the city of Jerusalem was swelled as normal with pilgrims from many nations, speaking many languages, who had come to worship and sacrifice at the temple. There were about one hundred and twenty believers gathered in a rented room, joined constantly in prayer, the disciples, members of Jesus’s family other women and friends. Watching and waiting on the Lord until something happened. Suddenly then, the rushing mighty wind swept through the house, the tongues of fires and the ability to speak in the foreign languages of the people gathered outside the building. The people inside the building were divinely empowered to speak in a manner that the people outside of the building could understand them and be saved, about 3,000 souls that day!

The Holy Spirit empowers the people of the church to do the work of the church, to be Christ’s voice, His arms, legs, feet, eyes, ears, body to the world so that others might also be saved. If we move through the power of God’s holy spirit there will be fruit and there will also be suffering.

We are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, (I)if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. "That I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings; being made conformable to his death" Paul writes to the church at Phillippi. (Philippians 3:10). Suffering isn’t exactly a popular topic of discussion, no one likes to suffer but consider this....fellowship is the union of friends sharing similar interests or problems. To suffer is to feel pain or distress.
Who, in this day and age yearns to share in the sufferings of Jesus Christ?
Rom. 5:2-3 - Paul says that more than rejoicing in our hope, we rejoice in our sufferings which produces endurance, character and hope. Through faith, suffering brings about hope in God and, through endurance, salvation.
Theresa, this Wednesday at prayer meeting talked to us about absolute surrender. We knelt at the altar and surrendered things in our lives that we felt were not under the authority of God’s reign. If God’s Holy Spirit is going to dwell within us, our hearts have to be open and not cluttered with precious idols we hold more dearly than our devotion to him. Surrendering them to the Savior is worth the pain for the permanent freedom and relief. When kids are are hurt...they keep their hands over the injured area so you can't see or put antiseptic on it. As adults you know they have to let go so your can help them and make them feel better...but sometimes the biggest job is prying those fingers away.
That is the way we are sometimes with the hurtful things in our lives...we are so busy "holding" on to them, that we don't give our faith and God the chance to do his work. We "think" we know better. We think we have everything under control. But if honestly asked who could handle it better, us or God...the answer would be God, of course. We need to be careful about focusing inwardly, spending most of our spiritual energy on personal pain, distress and hurt. God help us get our eyes off ourselves and our hurts, and focus on fellowshipping in His sufferings.
That is not to say we don’t believe in or pray for miracles! And we believe in and pray for healing! God can heal cancer or any other disease. God has authority over all the universe, all of nature, and the kingdom of darkness.But we must trust Him to do what is right -- through good times and bad, through sickness and health, through life or death by His power, mercy, and wisdom.
Christ was tempted at all points as we are, it is written that He has borne our grief's and carried our sorrows. In John 19 Jesus is hanging on the cross dying in agony, his mother grieving below "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister and Mary Magdalene...
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home..." (John 19:25-27).
Jesus loved Mary, his mother, and cared deeply for her. As we do not read of Joseph it is assumed Mary is a widow at this point. As the first born son it was Jesus’s responsibility to take care of his mother. He had to separate himself emotionally from his mother and give her to another knowing he would soon be gone, his redemptive work on earth done. Jesus surrendered His own mother to another’s care. He shares in our suffering when we have to separate from loved ones.

Jesus was moved with compassion and mercy at the suffering of others. It did not matter how hungry tired or dusty he was from the road, he always had time for one more person, even the woman who grabbing the hem of his clothing, in Luke 8:43, was miraculously healed.
The Way Of The Cross Is Surrender. Jesus laid his life down and asks us to do the same. It’s not about us, of all that is dear to us in this life! Its’s about Him, He is Life.

Consider this story that just appeared in the London Times:
A stricken climber left to die on Everest was saved by an American guide and a sherpa who found her by accident as they returned from the summit.

The woman, identified only as Usha, was found on Monday morning suffering from severe altitude sickness about 550 metres beneath the 8,848m (29,028ft) summit.

She was at a similar altitude to the cave where David Sharp another mountain climber died on May 15, 2006, after an estimated 40 climbers passed him by, most of them without making any attempt to save him.
Also like Sharp, she was too weak to move when she was found by David Hahn, a veteran American guide, and his sherpa, Phinjo Dorje, on their way down from the summit. Mr Hahn and Phinjo Dorje decided to risk their own lives by taking her with them, even though she was only semiconscious and suffering from severe cerebral oedema, or water on the brain.

It was a huge risk given the harsh conditions in the “death zone”, above 8,000 metres, where there is so little oxygen that people need all their strength to keep themselves alive, let alone someone else.

“I was pretty exhausted, because I’d put my oxygen on the patient during the rescue,” said Mr Hahn, who has climbed to the peak of Everest nine times. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t think she’d survive.”

Mr Hahn, who helped to rescue two climbers on Everest in 2001, said that he had never considered leaving Usha behind . Mr. Hahn put his safety and his comfort at risk for the sake of a woman who was a total stranger. Doesn’t this story remind you of a parable Jesus taught?

I came across the writings of an American architect as I was preparing a lesson for my eigth grade students this week named Tom Bender. He is interested in creating spaces that give something to the environment as well as the clients he serves, a different idea of laying down ones life, he writes that sacredness is and I quote:

“One day I was going through the familiar process of an architect with a client, working out the program for a project. I was taking notes as the client described what they wanted in the project. Suddenly I found I wasn't paying any attention at all to the specifics - all I was hearing was the insistent repetition of 'I want...', 'I want...', 'I want...', 'I want...'. Without thinking, and surprising us both, I blurted out, "Let's go though this again, and start with "I want to GIVE....", "I want to GIVE....", "I want to GIVE....". Let's see if we come up with something different."

We did. Once we got past the shock, we began to discover possibilities that totally changed the value of the project. We found we could locate meeting rooms to make them available for community use in the evenings. We found we could cool the surrounding area as well as the building site, and restore a bit of nature to the city, by planting street trees around the project. We found that changing the height of a retaining wall could give a comfortable place for people to sit. We found that replacing another wall with a few steps and a path made a wonderful pedestrian short-cut from the community on one side of the project to the other. We found that by altering a small garden area, we could make room for birds and other life to share the place. We found that through the slight extra cost of more durable materials we could give a free building to the next generation.

It "IS a gift to be giving." Giving is an integral part of loving, and loving is the root of holding things sacred. It is a unique form of ACTION. It enriches the giver and the receiver both, and creates multiple value out of each and every exchange. If 'What can I give in this situation?' is in our hearts every time we talk with or do something with someone, we not only leave a legacy of gifts in addition to our intended interaction, but we generate an enduring climate of trust, mutual caring, thankfulness and happiness which moves outward like the waves in the sea.”
So it must come finally to this -- whatever it takes, we must give up everything that would keep us from doing the perfect will of God! I think of it as no pain, no gain. He must increase, I must decrease. I am to take up my cross of self denial and follow Christ daily, sometimes that means suffering. It isn’t always spectacular like a Mount Everest rescue, sometimes it is a calling to patience in a relationship with a chronically cranky person. We all are called. Maybe a boss is treating us unreasonably, we are led to be kind. The rude customer, we are led to be patient with and even go an extra mile for though we don’t want to. There is the other driver cutting us off on the highway who gives us the finger gesture that we don’t return in anger and might have to stop and help down the road if they have a flat tire. I know of those caring for others quietly in their homes, feeding, washing, dressing, comforting, and soothing. "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13,) Jesus also went one more, He laid down his life for his enemies, he died for sinners, us, not knowing if we would ever appreciate his sacrifice, accept his gift. (Romans 5:6)The sacrifice Christ made on the Cross was a gift to us, if we accept it, so that we will not have to suffer the consequences eternally of our sin, separation from the God of Love. This Holy Spirit flowing through us is a gift, a gift for service. "The world is deathly ill. It is dying. " writes Corrie Ten Boom. 'The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world." Let us pray that we would be ever more open to asking God how we may serve Him rather than continually asking Him to bless us. Let us thank Him for those times when we are able to offer humble service to others, what a joy and what a blessing!
If you have never done so, invite the Saviour , Jesus Christ into your heart, accept His free gift of salvation. There is no catch. The acceptance is between you and Jesus in the privacy of your heart.