07132014 Fourth Sunday After Trinity

Sermon Audio

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

The epistle lesson this morning speaks clearly about adoption and our being adopted by God.  This past January we as a congregation co-sponsored “October Baby” as our Film of Faith.  It is a story about partial birth abortion, but also the adoption of the young lady that nearly lost her life to a rare genetic anomaly.  But her reality is that she is trying to find our who her birth mother really was.

Unlike the movie, our reality this morning is that we the people of Emmanuel know our God and that we were adopted by God for a specific purpose.  The purpose is to Glorify God.  We are the mirrors for the glory and love of God that are shined out in the darkness here in Goodland.  Not only do we shine the light and love of God with our Films of Faith, but we also do this with the Vacation Bible School.  I am proud of our church for stepping out in faith and being beacons in the darkness.

God is using each of us here this morning to be a beacon in the darkness that Satan is trying to use to purge the world into everlasting darkness.  And as those who have been adopted into the Body of Christ, we are empowered to be the mirror of God’s love for all of mankind.

But it takes not only our nod of ascent here at church on Sunday morning, it takes our stepping up in faith to be the children of God that He has made us to be in our baptism.  We as coheirs with Christ of the glory of God and the gifts of God are empowered to be the light for our corner of the world here in Western Kansas.

It does not mean that we will not encounter tragedy.  Paul says it so well, “¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  We will encounter tragedy, set back and serious wondering whether we are on the right path.  But like most farmers, who though they may have had their wheat crop decimated by hail, still plant in the fall with the eyes looking forward to the Spring and the hope.

This same hope we have just as the disciples had when Jesus Christ was crucified.  Not until Easter Sunday morning and evening did they realize Jesus had told them what would occur and when their eyes were opened they became on fire with not only the surety of the love of God, but the fulfillment of the promise of life and salvation in Jesus Christ and His death on Calvary for them and for us.

We to this morning have been set on fire with Pentecost.  We to this morning look to the future of our church and community.  We to this morning take grasp of the promises of God for us this morning.  For this morning, we like Paul says, are “waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

We have been adopted, we have been set free, we now are present in and to the greatest opportunity for Emmanuel.  Thus, this morning, I challenge each of you to shine up your mirrors, reflect the light of Christ in your life, lay claim to your adoption as the children of God and be empowered to embrace the great things that God has in store for each of us, but especially for the people of God here in Goodland, but especially for all of us saints here at Emmanuel.  May God empower us to be the people of God and embrace our destiny as adopted coheirs with Jesus Christ for all of mankind, but especially including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

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