Adopted: A Sermon Series

At the end of October, our church (The Austin Stone Community Church) did a three-week sermon series on adoption. At that time they also expressed their heart for Orphan Care Ministry and the launch of the Foster Care Initiative. Let's just say it was a pretty incredible time to be a part of what God is doing through the local church. 

Before the sermon series kicked off, Matt Carter, Pastor of Preaching and Vision, wrote this letter to prepare the hearts of the church...

Dear Church,

I want to write a quick note to you about our upcoming sermon series “Adopted.” It’s a three-week sermon series where we are going to focus on our adoption as sons and daughters of our great King and the implication that adoption has on our everyday lives.

God laid it on the heart of our elders to preach on this subject in 2009, and after three years of preparation and prayer, we feel like it is time to move forward. Our hope through this series is two-fold.

Our first hope is that you as a Christian would walk away from our time understanding your salvation better than you ever have in your life.  I know that in my preparation to preach, I have found myself in tears at the deep realization that I can call the King of kings and the Lord of lords “Daddy.” Our hope is that even if you have been a believer for years, tears would come to your eyes as you realize that you have been adopted by the greatest Father in the universe.

Our second hope is that in light of your adoption, you would be given a heart of compassion toward someone that God cares a great deal about: the orphan.  Church, the call to engage in the plight of the orphan is crystal clear in scripture, and make no mistake, God has made this calling clear to us. 

As I write this letter, there are over 7000 people actively attending the Austin Stone Community Church.  Stop for just a second and dream about the impact we, along with our many partner churches, could have in Austin, the United States, and around the world with regard to the plight of the orphan.  Are you dreaming big?  I am.

Please join me in prayer about what God wants to do in and through us in the coming days.  I’m so excited to be on this journey with you.

To Him Be The Glory,

Matt

Did that get you excited? It sure did for Steve and I! We would like to share those three sermons with you, and our hope is that you too would see and understand your own adoption into God's family as well as God's heart for the orphan and the call on the church! 

Sermon 1. Adopted: Rescued by Love

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Sermon 2. Adopted: Rescued to Love

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Sermon 3. Adopted: The Cost of Love

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-Gretchen

My Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I watched one of my all time favorite Christmas movies, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". One of the many reasons I love this holiday classic is because of it's endearing storyline. For those who need a bit of a recap of what I'm talking about let me fill you in. 

The Grinch, a bitter, grouchy, cave-dwelling creature with a heart "two sizes too small", lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his faithful dog, Max. From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Annoyed and unable to understand the Whos' happiness, he makes plans to descend on the town and deprive them of their Christmas presents, Roast Beast, Who-hash and decorations and thus "prevent Christmas from coming." However, he learns in the end that despite his success in taking away all the Christmas presents and decorations from the Whos, Christmas comes just the same. He then realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents. Touched by this, his heart grows three sizes larger; he returns all the presents and trimmings and is warmly welcomed into the community of the Whos.

You see, the Grich had a predisposed idea of what he thought Christmas was all about until he had a "wake up call" and then saw it through the lens of what it really was all about. Just like me, I had a predisposed idea of what I thought adoption was all about until I had my own "wake up call", or as I like to say "when my heart grew three sizes in one day". In my case I did not need to hijack a holiday or steal someones roast beast to be put straight. I needed God, or "The Holy Spirit", to reveal to me His heart for adoption through the lens of the Gospel - and one day He did just that!

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In a previous post found here my husband Steve mentioned that I heard an adoption story from one of our church's staff members while I was interning there that opened my eyes to adoption. That's true, and now it's a part of my story that I would like to also share with you. I hope this video from Michael and Kimberley Stewart will bless you and grow your heart as it did mine. 

If you'd like to follow the Stewart's story further you can follow there blog here.

-Gretchen