CRCF\u201d\u201d12-13-09
\n2nd Sunday of Advent<\/p>\n
The Family of Freedom
\nGalatians 4:4-7<\/p>\n
Introduction\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n
Imagine . . .
\nThat you are about 6 years old
\nThat you are always cold in the winter
\nThat you rarely, if ever, get a square meal and that your clothes are threadbare, filthy and too small\u201d\u201despecially your shoes that also have holes in the bottoms
\nThat you live on the streets, though you\u201d\u2122ve got parents somewhere, but they only show up every now and then when they need to use you to beg for money they\u201d\u2122ll use to buy drugs
\nThat you\u201d\u2122re regularly tempted to try dangerous drugs in an effort to escape all of the pain in your life\u201d\u201dand that you\u201d\u2122ve been thinking you\u201d\u2122ll probably go for it the next time that older boy offers
\nLife for you is more than hard and unhappy\u201d\u201dyou\u201d\u2122re miserable!<\/p>\n
Now imagine that out of the clear blue, the world\u201d\u2122s richest man comes to your town and to your street, all the way to your alley and finds you in the dumpster where you always dig for food and says, \u201cI\u201d\u2122ve come to take you home with me\u201d\u201dI\u201d\u2122m going to adopt you and make you my child. You\u201d\u2122ll have your own room, plenty of food to eat, clean clothes that fit, you\u201d\u2122ll get to go to school\u201d\u201dand I\u201d\u2122ll be your Daddy and love you like you ought to be loved. Now, I\u201d\u2122ll discipline you when you need it because it\u201d\u2122s best for you. We\u201d\u2122ll talk and laugh and play together\u201d\u201dand I\u201d\u2122ll hold you and tell you that I love you every day. All you have to do is say \u201cYes\u201d right now and we can go home!<\/p>\n
Did you know that Christmas is about adoption? It\u201d\u2122s about family and the freedom that comes by being adopted into God\u201d\u2122s family.<\/p>\n
Jesus was born to make us free as God\u201d\u2122s children! He didn\u201d\u2122t come to convert us to a religion of rules and regulations but to call us into a relationship of grace and love. Jesus was born because His Father wanted to become our Father by adoption.<\/p>\n
Galatians 4:4-7 (NLT)
\n4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cwhen the right time came\u201d\u201d\u201dGod graciously had a plan to send Jesus to rescue us! And when the time was just perfect, \u201cGod sent his Son\u201d!<\/p>\n
\u201cborn of a woman, subject to the law\u201d\u201d\u201dGod the Son became man\u201d\u201done of us\u201d\u201dso that He might save us!<\/p>\n
John 1:14
\nSo the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
\n5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.<\/p>\n
Jesus was born to be our Substitute concerning God\u201d\u2122s law! His life perfectly fulfilled the requirements of God\u201d\u2122s law for us; and His death perfectly satisfied the curse of God\u201d\u2122s law against us!<\/p>\n
Galatians 3:14<\/p>\n
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, \u201d\u02dcCursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.\u201d\u2122<\/p>\n
The result?<\/p>\n
Romans 8:1<\/p>\n
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n
Galatians 5:1<\/p>\n
So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don\u201d\u2122t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
\nGalatians 4:5b\u201d\u201d\u201cso that he could adopt us as his very own children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, since Jesus has taken the curse for us and made us righteous before God, the Father can adopt us into His family forever, if we\u201d\u2122ll simply accept the gift!<\/p>\n
6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, \u201cAbba, Father.\u201d 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God\u201d\u2122s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.<\/p>\n
Jesus was born to make us free as God\u201d\u2122s children!<\/p>\n
We need to get this so that we can celebrate the freedom that Christmas brings\u201d\u201dthe freedom that comes from being in God\u201d\u2122s family!<\/p>\n
He didn\u201d\u2122t come to convert us to a religion of rules and regulations but to call us into a relationship of grace and love.<\/p>\n
Jesus was born because His Father wanted to become our Father by adoption!<\/p>\n
So, what do you and I need to do with this truth?<\/p>\n
Well, if you\u201d\u2122re here and don\u201d\u2122t know God as Father\u201d\u201dyou haven\u201d\u2122t trusted Jesus as your Savior and been adopted into God\u201d\u2122s family, then you need to simply take the gift of family and freedom that God is offering you this morning! Just say \u201cyes\u201d and go home to live forever with God as your Daddy!<\/p>\n
If you\u201d\u2122re already in the family this Christmas season, then just slow down and remember what an awesome thing your adoption really is! Remember what was like on the streets before God came to take you home as His own. And celebrate Christmas with a renewed gratitude and enjoyment of the freedom of God\u201d\u2122s family!<\/p>\n
Galatians 3:26-28 (NLT)<\/p>\n
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n
All of our differences racially, economically, history-wise, baggage-from-the-past-wise\u201d\u201dALL of our differences disappear when we trust Jesus! Because we\u201d\u2122re ALL forgiven the same way\u201d\u201dby trusting Jesus Who is our Substitute! It\u201d\u2122s not by being religious or keeping all the rules or being a member of a particular church or going through certain rituals prescribed by tradition, that we hope to somehow make things right with God! It\u201d\u2122s through a relationship of trust in God, where we rely on the fact that Jesus did it all for us, that we are forgiven and adopted!<\/p>\n
As we come to the Lord\u201d\u2122s Supper this morning, we celebrate God\u201d\u2122s grace in several ways:<\/p>\n
1)\tWe celebrate the forgiveness of our sins made possible because Jesus was born to die!
\n2)\tWe celebrate our adoption into God\u201d\u2122s family made possible because Jesus became one of us and paid the price for our sins!
\n3)\tWe celebrate our forever family here\u201d\u201dand around the world\u201d\u201din the family of God!
\n4)\tWe celebrate God\u201d\u2122s once-and-for-all statement that religion will send you to hell, but a relationship with Jesus is the path to freedom, and ultimately, to heaven\u201d\u201dto the everlasting presence of God!<\/p>\n
Celebration of the Lord\u201d\u2122s Supper<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRCF\u201d\u201d12-13-09 2nd Sunday of Advent The Family of Freedom Galatians 4:4-7 Introduction\u201d\u201d Imagine . . . That you are about 6 years old That you are always cold in the winter That you rarely, if ever, get a square meal … Continue reading