May 6, 2016

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ — if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
Romans 8:14-17

“Not everyone is on good terms with their parents. The world is full of children who do not know their parents, are afraid of their parents, are angry at their parents, or whose hearts are aching for parents who have passed away. No matter what our relationship are like with our mothers or fathers here on earth, we who are children of God have an intimate relationship with our spiritual Parent. God’s Spirit will never leave us by ourselves, and God will never stop loving us. God is always there when we call.”  (Rebecca Poe Hays)

When we experience the birth of a child, we are reminded of the possibility of “all things being made new”. I recently witnessed the birth of my first grandchild. I am always amazed at the birthing process, how a living, breathing human can be formed from a sperm and egg into a living, functioning “new” person. It is a wonder of the glory of G-d. And along with the birth comes the possibility of – anything. Each birth brings with it the endless realm of possibilities. The same G-d who birthed creation into existence is still creating and birthing “the new” into our world each and every day – thousands and thousands of times, over and over again.

This is why we call our creator “Abba” – “Father”. G-d is our creator – we are G-d’s children. And no matter your relationship with your parents, we have a G-d who is not absent, who is not abusive, and who will never disappoint us. No, our Father will not always give us what we “Want”, but our Father does give us what we “Need”. It is in this spirit that we understand our “being made new” every day as we remember our baptisms, and live in the possibility of our own renewal, and the assurance of experiencing the love of G-d in new ways each and every day.

Pastor Dave