What do you want for Christmas?

Do you have a wish list for Christmas?  Perhaps a new toy, a power tool, or a piece of jewelry?  Maybe you have everything you need and you are grateful to God for that.  I hope most of all that you are focused on Jesus Christ and the reason He came to earth as a little baby.

I've been trying to find ways to focus my mind and heart on the true meaning of Christmas and to help my children focus on more than what "people are going to give me."
Have you heard of "The Advent Conspiracy?"  It is one way to refocus the season for you and your family.  It has been helpful for me.  There are four parts: 1) Worship Fully, 2) Spend Less, 3) Give More, and 4) Love All.

There are children around the world who are asking this Christmas for a mom, a dad, or a family.  Music and pictures together really get me so grab a tissue and sit down and watch this short video. ~Jason Wiens (adoptive dad)

Adoption/Redemption

Some day I hope my children will all be "Born Again."  We read about Nicodemus in Sunday School this past week and how blown away he was by Jesus' words to him.  He thought it was impossible.  Many people today think the same thing.  They don't want to submit their lives to Christ and say, "take control of my life, I'll do what you want me to do."  Both births can be messy but the end result of both is also beautiful.  I hope all of my children will be born again some day.  It will bring me great joy.

For some, "Born Again" can mean "Twice Adopted."
My youngest son is adopted.  I hope someday that he will accept his adoption into God's family and find joy and peace with God as his father.  But both of his adoptions come with grief and loss on one side, and joy, peace and security on the other side.  Did you come into God's family kicking and screaming?  Many of us look back on the life of sin we once lived and are tempted to go back to its worldly pleasures.  This concept was expressed so well by Dr. Moore in his book "Adopted for Life" when he talked about the day he drove away from the orphanage in Russia with his two boys.  They had joy, security, love and true pleasure awaiting them in their future but they had never been outside the walls of their orphanage.  The noise of the car they were in, the wind on their faces, the bright lights... all of it was freaking them out.  We must recognize that although we are doing a good thing when we care for the orphan, there is grief and loss experienced by the child as well as members of the birth family/adoptive family.  It is our job to help our children as they wrestle with these overwhelming feelings.
Too often as members of God's family we lose sight of the beauty and the outrageous scandal of the story we live in.  Listen again to what the Bible says about this story.
Jesus says, "you did not choose me but I chose you." (John 15:16)
Jesus says, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." (John 14:18)
The Bible says that Jesus died for us while we were His enemies. (Romans 5:8)
You might think that the beautiful part of the story is that you were so smart that you chose to be part of God's family.  It's different than that.  God has been called by one poet, "The Hound of Heaven."  He pursued you and sought you in some pretty dark, lonely places to bring you to Him and bring you into His family.

One adoptive dad writes about his thoughts and experiences with adoption.  He says,
“My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous.  Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him. And when He redeems us, we can’t even really appreciate or comprehend it, just like Dimitri will never comprehend or fully appreciate what is about to happen to him … but … he will live in the fruit of it. As his Daddy, I will never expect him to understand all of this or even to thank me. I just want to watch him live in the benefits of my love and experience the joys of being an heir in my family. This is how our heavenly “Papa” feels towards us. Today, settle your busy heart down and rest in the benefits of redemption. Enjoy the fruits of His goodness, and stop trying to “pay Him back”. You’ll never get close you goofy little kid.” - Derek Loux

Orphan Care Ministry Prayer Time

Join us on Sunday, December 5, from 6-7 pm at church for a time of prayer.  The focus of this prayer time will be on our orphan care ministry.  As we begin this ministry together as a community of faith we desire to know what God would have US do together for Him.  What an exciting time!