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Grace Church is a Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA) church in Middleburg Heights, Ohio.
Welcome. Really glad to begin this newseries. Just before we do, let me tell you about a Mother's Day that one time something happenedand maybe you heard about this elderly woman who walked into church and the friendly ushergreeted her at the door and he said, where would you like to sit? She goes, I'd like to sit in thefront row. And he goes, you really don't want to do that. You don't want anybody in the front row.The pastor here is really boring. And she said, do you know who I am? And he said, no. She says,I'm the pastor's mother. And he said, do you know who I am? And she said, no. And he said, good.And made his way off. And it was that usher right back there. And so I justwanted to share with you a little bit about that. And I want to share with you a little bit aboutit. I want to call him out. And hey, by the way, I believe we have with us todayDale Kummerow. Dale, are you right back there? Dale had a stroke a few months ago and has beenin the hospital for weeks and weeks. And this is his first Sunday back to church. Dale, we love you.Really glad to have you here. Yeah. And thanks to Brother Gary for being
there as well.Looking forward to this new series. Our lives, I think we'd all agree, find meaningin the genuine and authentic relationships that we can build, that we want to be known and lovedand connected with people around us. And to not have that can lead to the challenges of lonelinessand just feeling like, where do I fit? The problem is that it seems more difficult in this season ofour culture to build meaningful, lasting friendships. Would you agree?Would you agree with that? And there's a real cost to that. And it's not just anecdotal or like,well, we just sort of feel this. There's research to back it up. Back in February,in the issue of The Atlantic, Derek Thompson wrote an article with this title,Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out. Subtitle, Too Much Aloneness is Creating aCrisis of Social Fitness. He said, this has happened really in the last like 15 years.Noted sociologist, Jonathan Haidt,out the facts in his book, The Anxious Generation, just came out in the last six months. It's gottena lot of press. Maybe you've seen that in some of the media. But he wrote about the epidemic ofmental illness that has hit so many countries recently. And he said, a lot of that stems froma deprivation of genuine relationships. Like they recognize we were made to be in community. Andhere's what Haidt argues. He says, a lot of the problem stemmed from the development of this thingright here. And he says,this situation, I see someone raise their hand going, yes, that's the issue. This thing righthere has caused some things. It's sort of a virtual world. And here's three things he sayshas happened. He said, our communication has become dominated by text-based comments andsocial media posts. Secondly, we tend to have multiple simultaneous and unrelated one-to-manycommunications. In other words, how many of you, you're like texting like 12 different people atthe same time. Maybe during the Cavs game last night, like, I can't believe this, this is, orwhatever. And
you're texting, and we have all kinds of interactions going at the same time that arerelatively shallow. And thirdly, the sociologists have said that we have these easily entered andexited communities that do little. It's sort of funny, because just as I was saying this,I got another text from someone. Thank you for your response. I won't tell them right now.But we have these communities you can go in and out of. Like, social media,let you come and go as you like. And if you don't want to be part of it, you just ghost them, orjust, you know, defriend this person, or whatever. And it's, whether it's video games, social media,text messages, and these sociologists are concerned about the trends. And their conclusion is this,they're like, the real world is a healthier place to live. In other words, instead of being likejust in texting, or your iPad, or email, or whatever, to actually have a face-to-face,sit across the table from someone, have a cup of coffee, and go, hey, how are you doing? Let'stalk about us, and let's talk about your life. And to have that, but we're missing out on that,because while we're, in some senses, more connected than others, we're missing out onthe genuineness of authentic relationships. And here's what these sociologists say.Several of them are talking about this. They said, what we need is meaningful membershipsin real communities. And I would say, you mean sort of like a church family?I'm really glad you're here today. And all of this raises questions forus to say, okay, what does it mean to be a Christian? How does it impactthe way that I live in this kind of a world? And so we have a few questions we want to respond to.How do we respond to the epidemic of loneliness in our culture? In what ways does the gospelspeak to this deep need? And what does it mean to be brothers and sisters in a family?So welcome to the new series. We're going to see what the scripture says about all of this. Andtoday what we're going to do is we're going to
look at the incredible truth about the basis forour identity. Like, what is it that defineswho we are if we've put our trust in Jesus? And then we're going to look in the coming weeks tosay, how can we regain some of the skills that the Bible actually gives really practical wisdom onto say, how can I connect better with my neighbors, my colleagues, my family?How can I be a better, more healthy, relational person where people just go, you know what,when I'm with you, I just feel better. I feel cared about and loved and cherished.We want to see what does it look like to be that kind of follower of Jesus. Looking forward to thejourney with you. So we've called the series Connect. Building relationships, healthy relationshipsin a lonely world. Here's our big point today. Jesus welcomes all of us to the most importantrelationship ever. And that is that when he invites us into relationship with him, he putsus in a family. You know, there's a number of agnostics today and atheists who say, I justdon't believe. I don't believe. I don't think science and faith can coexist. We look at thecouple of weeks ago and I believe that they miss out on some of the design elements in theuniverse and say, what does that point to? What's the purpose of our world if we're just sort of acosmic accident? But the other thing we miss out on is we miss out on the fact that God has createdyou and me to be in a family, a global family. That's an amazing family we're going to talkabout in just a second. But he invites everybody to the table. This is the amazing thing aboutJesus. Some of us, you remember one of the most, probably the most well-known story that Jesusever told us about the prodigal. And you remember what happened that this young son comes to his dadand he goes, you know what? I'm going to go live life on my own. I want to find success andsignificance my own way. So give me whatever is coming my way. And he goes off and he just livesfor himself according to his own, you know,
philosophy of life. And how does it go for him?Starts off okay, right? It always does, right? You have money to spend. You have pleasures thatlast for a short time. But in the end, you're going to live life on your own. And you're going towhen you do life and you're at the center of your life and your purpose is pleasure, it ends up,you wind up being a miserable person. Because the things that God has given us that were meant to begifts on the periphery of our life, when they become central in our life, become idols andthey always disappoint us. So this young man comes to the place in his life where he's like, this,my life is terrible. And I, all my, like, I don't have any money left and I've broken relationships.And he wonders, he goes,what if I could come back and just be like a servant in my dad's house? Says that he came tohis senses. It's what I pray for people who have walked away from God, that they would come totheir senses and go, could it be that it's better to be in relationship with God? So he begins tofind his way back home, sort of slinking back home, probably wondering like, what was dad goingto, what is mom going to say? And what happens? You know the story. When his dad sees him, whathe did, he runs, right? And he just, he embraces his son. He has this huge party and there's thisabundance at the table. And he's like, what if I could come back and just be like a servant in mytable? And he's like, my son who was lost is found. He was dead and now he's alive and it'samazing. And friends, that's what the father in heaven wants for every single one of us.That's his heart. And he puts us into a family and he says, I want you to know there's a placefor you at the table. And that's what the church is to be all about. We're a family of adoptedpeople who have come back to the father and he's welcomed us.He's welcomed us by his grace. How does he make that possible? And what does it actually mean to beadopted into his family? I hope you'll leave here today
with a better understanding of thatand you'll say, wow, either that's true of me or I want it to be true of me.So let's take a look. Galatians chapter four, it's toward the like two-thirds of the way throughyour Bible. And if you want to turn either in your paper Bible like I have or your phone,your device and check that out. Also, there were notes on the way in or those of you engagingonline. Really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really,really glad to have you. Guys of Lorraine Correctional, hope to be with you next week.Welcome. Love you all. And there are notes that are on the table there. And for those of you here,those of you engaging online from some other place, just go to graceymay.org and you'll seethe bulletin and the notes are there. Here are the verses from Galatians chapter four,verse four. But when the right time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law.God sent him to buy freedom for us.Who were slaves to the law. We're going to talk what that means. So that he could adopt us as hiswhat? His very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the spirit of his soninto our hearts, prompting us to call out, Abba, Father. Now you are no longer a slave,but God's own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Friends,can I tell you today, the best thing you could ever say in life is this. I am an adopted sonof the Father in heaven. Everything that belongs to him, like belongs to me. And he loves me. And Iget to be a part of his family for today and forever. So what are the benefits? What does itmean to be adopted? I think what Paul does here, he sort of talks about a past, a present, and afuture element of adoption. Let's take a look here first. What does it mean about our past?Verse five, he says, God sent Jesus to buy freedom for us. Like God did something in history.He sent Jesus so that you and I could be adopted. God wanted to adopt us. Some of you
have beenadopted. That was the way you got into your current family. Some of you have been an adoptive parent.I think you get this passage and the truth of what the Bible says about adoption more than a lot ofthe rest of us. And it's an amazing picture. Sometimes we on the outside don't fully get it.One dad who adopted, he and his wife were adopted. He and his wife were adopted. He and his wife wereadopted. He and his wife adopted two children. He said, there's a couple of comments that peoplemake that are hurtful. And I think that show they don't understand adoption. He said, one thing thatpeople, the most frequent comment they'll say is this, oh, that's really nice that you adopted.Do you also have children of your own? He said, that's the number one thing not to say to anadoptive parent. He said, what I want to tell them is this. I want to say, hey, come real close.I have a secret for you. These kids are our own. Like I don't have thesekids. And the kids are my own. They're all my own. He said, one other comment that he wants tocorrect. He said, a person will sometimes say, I just don't know how, you know, if I could everlove and adopt a child like I do a biological child. He said, first, the distinction hurts toeven say they're somehow different. But second, this dad says this. He says, I guarantee youthat the affection my wife and I have for the children we've adopted is absolutely no differentthan the affection we have for the sons we had naturally. They're all our children, and we makeno distinction. Friends, that's the way our heavenly Father sees you and me. That if you'veput your trust in Jesus as Lord, he adopts you into his family, and you belong to him. You'renot like a second-class citizen. You're his daughter. You're his son. And the cost of that,he says in verse 5, God sent Jesus, and Jesus paid the price of his life.What does it mean when he says he bought our freedom so that we who were slaves to the lawcould be adopted? The law was given back to
the people of Israel as a way to say, hey,here's how God wants you to live. Some of it was for that time. Some of it was for all time. Thingsrepeat in the New Testament, I believe, were for all time. But God gave the law through Moses,right? But the law, how much could it help the people to be the kind of people God,wanted them to be? It's sort of like going to the, you know, hospital. Let's say I'm playingsoftball on a slide in the home, and I break my leg, and I end up at the hospital here,and they do an x-ray. And they confirm, like, wow, you got this fracture or whatever. And I'm like,oh, they took an x-ray. Like, it's all better now, right? The x-ray is going to fix it.X-ray doesn't fix it. It just what? It just reveals my brokenness.That's what the law does. The law reveals something is wrong with me. Like, how far shortI fall from God. I fall from God. I fall from God. I fall from God. I fall from God. I fall from God.It's all of God's standard that I, the law says, man, I am a messed up person.So I've been a slave to the law in that sense going, I just, I can't do it. Like,I'll never be good enough to get to heaven on my own performance. And so Jesus comes,and what does he do? He's born under the law, and he keeps it perfectly. And then he says this. Hegoes, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to take the penalty for how badly you screwed up thelaw. And he stretches out his arms, and he dies in my place. And then he says, I'm going to giveyou my perfect record of righteousness. And it's the great exchange. And when I put my trust inJesus and say, Jesus, you died for me so that I could be forgiven. And I hand all of my failuresand brokenness to you, and I receive all of your goodness and righteousness. I'm adopted as hisson, his daughter. And he loves me like he loves his son, Jesus. This is amazing to me. You go,are you sure about that? Listen to what Jesus says in,in John chapter 17. This is amazing. Jesus is praying for his followers in John chapter
17,and he says about you and me, he's praying for his followers, and he says, Father, you love themas much as what? You love me. Just let that sink in for a second. God the Father loves you as muchas he loves Jesus. That's amazing. There's no second tier of, if you've been adopted into thefamily, God loves you as much as he loves Jesus. Amazing. And how do we show others that we're partof the family? Look back one chapter, Galatians chapter 3. Here's what Paul says in verse 26. Hesays, for you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, and all who have beenunited with Christ. In other words, you've been part of, become part of the family in baptism,have put on Christ like putting on new clothes. Some of you have been adopted into the family,but you've never declared it in the way that Jesus asks us to. And he says, you know,if you're part of the family, I want you to, I want you to have this external symbol of aninternal reality. I want you to be baptized. Next Sunday, we're going to have a baptism service. Andhere's what it essentially means. It's right over here, the baptistry. And what we do is that we gounder the water, and it represents that I'm dead to living the way I used to live, my own way.Like I'm no longer just, I'm dying to my sins, my old patterns. I come back up out of the water,symbolic of the fact that Jesus Christ, just as he came back to life, he lives in me,he wants to shape me and mold me, and I'm now doing my life with him. Baptism is the wayto drive a stake in the ground to say, I've been adopted into God's family, and I belong to him,and that's the most important relationship I'll ever have. It lets people know you're part ofthe family. If you've never taken that step, I want to encourage you to sign up in our onlinebulletin. We'll be doing one soon at Lorraine as well. And we already have, I think for next week,about 30 people signed up. In the past, just a reminder now, he,gives me, he accepts me because of what he did through
Jesus Christ. What about my present?How does adoption affect my relationships today? Here's what he says in verse six. He says,because we are his children, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts,prompting us to call out, Abba, Father. You get to call out to the very God of the universe,this word that in the Aramaic, Abba, is like Papa.Daddy. In fact, when you pray the rest of today, over lunch, or you're just talking to the Lordwhile you're in the car, or whatever, you can say, Abba, thank you for being with me right now.Give me the strength I need in this conversation. Grant me your peace as I deal with this anxiety.Help me to say no to that second bowl of ice cream, or actually it's the third.You can call it to him anytime, anytime, anywhere. And he loves you, and he welcomes you.I think we've all seen those.Those clips of soldiers who are welcomed home by their kids. Like, parents been away for a longtime, you know, an assignment from Mons Military, and they come home, and you have a reunion likethis. You see this on the screen here. And I look at something like that, and I look at that,and it almost, I mean, the emotion that you just, and what is that girl probably just calling outthrough her tears as she runs up to her daddy's arms? Daddy. Daddy. Daddy, I love you, right? Abba.Papa. And she knows that she loves her dad, and her dad loves her. And friends, it's the same thingin terms of your relationship with your father in heaven, that he loves you with an everlasting love,and he welcomes you. And you can run up to him and say, Abba, father. Just like the prodigalgoing home to his dad, and his father runs to him. Because we read this in the Bible,when you draw near to God, he what? He draws.Near to you. There are also moms, by the way, on this Mother's Day. We know there are plentyof moms who are out there serving. And you'll see that picture there. That's Christopher Harrishugging his mom, Karen, a chief warrant officer from her third tour of
duty, getting back at thatmoment. And you see that embrace. And friends, if we can picture that, that's, you're God's veryown child. He loves you. Another privilege of being adopted, we actually become the house of God.His spirit.His spirit lives in us. Paul says this again in verse six. He says, God sent the spirit of hisson, where? Into our hearts. You go, if I had opened our surgery, no, no, but his spirit,God himself, his spirit actually comes and lives within me. That's the promise that he makes. Helives with us. It means this. You and I no longer go to the house of God. We are the house of God,right? I've said it a lot of times.You've been a grace because I never want to forget it. When you came into the building today,you did not come into the house of God. The house of God came into the buildingbecause you're the house of God. This building right here, Lorraine Correctional, your chapel,Olmsted Falls, your beautiful facility is not the house of God. When you leave today,the house of God is leaving the building and going out to represent Jesus all throughoutthe community and wherever he takes us. He lives in me.He lives in you if you've been adopted, and we can call out to him at any time.Friends, it's not just my relationship with Jesus. Adoption means I gain a bunch of newbrothers and sisters. If someone asks you, like, hey, how big is your family? Or how many brothersand sisters do you have? We often respond with our earthly family, right? But Jesus said,who are my mother and my brothers? They're those who do the will of my Father in heaven,which means that today,if someone asks how many brothers and sisters do you have, you can say, well, my earthly family,like I have eight, six sisters, two brothers, but I actually have about, you know, roughly two and ahalf billion, you know, approximately around the world today, because that's my true family, right?And so we have this family, and again, in Galatians chapter 3, there's no hierarchy. Allare welcomed.
Here's what it says in chapter 3, verse 28, there's no longer Jew or Gentile,slave or free, male and female, for you are all one in Christ.Jesus. What happens when we're adopted is all the barriers are broken down. You see, the firstcentury was littered with racism and oppression. In the mind of a first century Jew, Gentiles,non-Jews, like Ethiopians, Greeks, Syrians, etc., they were called uncircumcised, and when you saidthat, you spit it. It was a term of profound contempt. On the flip side, Gentiles regardedJews to be subjugated. Gentiles regarded Jews to be subjugated. Gentiles regarded Jews to be subjugated.And historically, Jews have been an oppressed people, living under the thumb of one Gentilenation or another, and sadly, anti-Semitism is rampant even today, and grieves the heart of God.So there's, in the first century, this huge wall of animosity, like, you know, between Jews andnon-Jews. But there emerged a people, a family, that did it differently. And they were free peopleand slaves, and they were men and women, and they were young, and they were young, and they wereold, and they were rich and poor, and they were, who were they? They were the early Christians. Andthe Roman world stood in awe as they saw this people who once hated each other begin to dolife together in Jesus' name. Brothers and sisters adopted, same family, and they were workingtogether, and eating together, and greeting one another with the holy kiss, and raising theirchildren together, and taking care of one another, marrying one another, burying each other, and theworld stood up against them. And they were free. And they were free. And they were free. And theytook notice and said, that's the kind of family I want to be a part of. Adopted. It has such profoundimplications. Derwin Gray, author and pastor, notes this. He says, this fact, what happened,that wall being broken down, blew the circuitry of every person living in century one. It shookthe Roman Empire to its very foundations.
And I say, what if we could see it happen again?You know, I see it happening even in our own church family. And I love seeing barriers brokendown and just...All the diversity in its many forms. Friends, that honors Jesus. That honors Jesus. Can Iencourage you to just think through, who are the kind of people that I hang out with? If I'm married,are all my friends married? If I'm single, are they all single? Do I tend to hang out with peopleall the same skin color I do? Vote the same way I do? Same socioeconomic place on the ladder,wherever that may be? And if that's the case, being in the same family, there's no hierarchy inthat. And we're all brothers and sisters. And what if we just invited Jesus to stretch us? To give useyes to see everybody else as he sees them. And to say, you know what? You're my sister. You'remy brother. And we just began to invite more people into our circle. Don't you think thatwould honor the father, our papa? My mom and dad, you know, we got sick of it. But now I'm a dad andI say the same thing. It'd always be like, hey mom, what do you want for Mother's Day?just that you kids would love each other. Did your mom say that to you? Maybe your momwanted chocolate. I don't know. My mom and dad are always like, all we want is for you to love eachother. Maybe it's because my brother and I fought so much. Andrew, I love you today and I'm glad wedidn't kill each other. That's what God wants for us. So again, here's what happens when we'readopted. Our past is transformed. We're forgiven and accepted. Our present, we gain all kinds ofnew relationships. And our future is the last one. We have an eternal inheritance. Verse 7 in Galatians4, he says this,No longer a slave, but God's child. And since you are his child, God has made you his what?His heir. Some of you are in a family where you're like, you know, I'm not going to probably get alot. I can owe my buddy. He's got like this boatload of money from his parents and I'mprobably going to get 23
bucks, you know. And can I tell you something? As a child of the heavenlyfather, everything that belongs to the father belongs to you.You are his heir. That's what he says here. If you've been adopted. And one day we're going toinherit this eternity in paradise. It's going to be amazing. And here's what it says. It's going tobe like Revelation 21 promises. He'll wipe every tear from our eyes. There's going to be no moredeath or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has been, has passed away. Andit's going to be absolutely phenomenal. Some of you know the writings of C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis just,uh, prolific author. You may know that he dealt with the painful loss of his wife. After not manyyears of marriage, he died of cancer. And it was just five months before then his death. And he,and he, he wrote this to a friend. He said, there are far, far better things ahead than any we leavebehind. And everyone said, amen, right? I mean, an eternal inheritance, far, far better things aheadthan anything that we leave behind. All of us are going to be like that. And he said,when you are adopted. So someone says, well, how do I make sure I'm adopted? For starters,can we just acknowledge this? It's not automatic. You know, there are people go, well, we're allGod's children. Actually, we're not. We're all God's creation. We're not all God's childrenbecause Jesus talked about this. And in John's gospel chapter one, it says this to those whoreceive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to be called what? Children of God.Means if you don't receive him into your life, you don't believe in him, you're not a child of God.So here's what Paul says here in Galatians chapter three, verse 26. He says this,this is how you're adopted. In fact, would you say this aloud with me? Galatians three,would you guys put that up there? Verse 26. I think it was the next slide here. Let's readit apart on the white. Ready? You are all children of God. How? Through faith
in Christ Jesus. WhenI put my faith in Jesus and say, Jesus, I'm like, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't,I can't make it to heaven on my own. I, I've made a mess of some things in my life. I put my trust inyou. You came for me. You died in my place. You rose again. I invite you to come into my life. Ireceive you. I believe in you. And I want to follow your way from this point on and leave my old waybehind. When you put your faith in him like that, you're adopted. You're a son, a daughter of themost high God. Let me close with the story of one person here at Grace who,as experienced that, shared this at their baptism and wrote this. It's amazing to look back and seehow God has transformed my life. I grew up in a family that had no understanding of the blessingsthat Jesus had to offer. We were confused and selfish. Having no spiritual foundation, we didn'tknow how to love the Lord, so therefore we didn't know how to love ourselves or each other. We triedbut failed miserably. During my senior year of college, I had friends, a 4.0 GPA, a goodinternship. It looked as if everything was great, yet I couldn't have been more alone. Buttoned up onthe outside, miserable on the inside, and yet I thought the pain would somehow go away on its own.Finally, it hit me. I had to make some changes, and I needed God's help to do that. It's quitethe realization when you figure out you can't go it alone, and awesome to know you don't have to.I gave my life to Christ, and he began a work of transformation. I love him for making me realizethat I don't have to go alone. I love him for making me realize that I don't have to go alone.I don't have to shoulder all my burdens, that he forgives me for my sins, that I can talk to himwhenever and wherever, and that he will never hand me anything in life that I can't handle.You know what you call that? That's being adopted. That's becoming a son, a daughter of the Most HighGod, and he welcomes every single one of us to the table,
and when you take a step toward him,what does he do? He runs to you, and he wants you to be part of the family. A lot of you have takenthat step, but there are some here who have never done that, and I like to every several weeks justgive an opportunity to say, Jesus, I want to do that. I want to receive you into my life and justsay I believe in you, and I'm ready to do that. And there's a prayer in your notes. If you pickthose up on the way, it's going to be on the screen. You can pray with your eyes open, but Iwould like to pray for us and then lead us in a prayer, and if you say, you know what? I do wantto be adopted as one of God's children.Would you just call out to him and believe that he's listening for you today, that he sees you,and he knows you, and he loves you? I'll pray for us, and then I'm going to lead us in a prayer,okay? Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you, thank you for sending Jesus so that we couldbecome part of your family again. Many here have taken that step, but there are some todaywho I believe are ready to do that, and so Lord, thank you for hearing them as they pray thisprayer, and you feel free to pray.Lord Jesus, you are the living God. With whatever doubts I have, I believe that you are alive,and I invite you to take your rightful place of leadership in my life.Forgive me of past wrongs. Thank you for loving me enough to take the judgment that I deservedwhen you died on the cross and came back to life. I trust you, and your sacrifice is payment for mysin. Help me to turn away from anything that dishonors you and to follow you with all my heart.want you to be the CEO of my life, to lead me each day. My life is yours, Lord. Help me to know youbetter. And everyone said, amen. Amen. He's heard that prayer. If you're beginning that journey,we have a little booklet I'd like to get to. I think we still have some. A lot went after thelast service, but it looks like this. You'll see it here. You said yes. It's a 21-day guide. Howdo you
begin a relationship with Jesus? What does that look like? And so feel free to pick that up,and if we run out today, it's also online in your message notes.Check that out. There's a little link, and you can just do it online. That's why I prefer to do itanyhow. And you'll begin the greatest journey of your life. Let's stand together and invite Him tohave His way in us.