As most of you know by now, in business meeting this past Sunday evening, we voted to enter in to partnership with “Lifesong,” a ministry that financially administrates domestic and international adoptions. As a church family, we have now set aside $100,000 from our designated ministry fund that Lifesong will help us administrate for Morningview families who are seeking to adopt. I hope you are as excited about this undertaking as I am.
Morningview is known to be a church that loves children and families, and now we have the opportunity to be examples when it coming to loving children without families. In fact, I was at the Executive Board Meeting for the Montgomery Baptist Association this week and they made it a point to express their thankfulness to Morningview for hosting Foster Parent Training through DHR this past year. Our example has now led other churches in our city to host this training and to develop foster care and adoption ministries. To God be the glory!
As we now prayerfully consider how to further develop an ethic that supports adoption at Morningview, there are some specific ways that each of us can be involved.
First, we must PRAISE God. Adoption is a beautiful picture of the gospel. Formerly, each of us were children of wrath, deserving eternal separation from God and eternal suffering in hell because of our sinfulness. We were spiritually destitute and wrapped in the filth of worldliness. Yet while we were yet enemies of God, Christ died for us, to reconcile us to God. He sacrificially bore the wrath that we deserved, purchasing our salvation with His own blood. And when we repent and believe in Him, we are adopted as God’s own and made co-heirs with Jesus Christ. Praise God for the fact that He has adopted YOU!
Second, we must PRAY. Pray for mothers and families even now who, because of great difficulties, are surrendering their children for foster care and adoption. Pray for these children, especially the older ones, as they are torn and heartbroken by such choices. Pray for homes where these children will be loved and cared for; specifically, pray that they would be placed where they will hear the gospel. Pray for families in our midst who are considering and who are actively involved in adoption. Pray for God to provide the necessary finances, the wisdom to love and lead these children through the transition, and for godly patience to persevere through the legal process. Pray for God to raise up more men and women in our congregation who will have a heart for this gospel ministry.
Third, we must RECEIVE. We have already experienced the blessing of having adopted children of all different nationalities and ages in our midst. May God bring us even more! We as a church must be prepared to receive them, to love them, and to support their parents with prayer and fellowship and accountability and encouragement. We must be committed to embodying a true faith, grounded in the Word, walking like Christ, and proclaiming the gospel in all we do. We must welcome them into our homes, cherish them as if they were our very own, pray for their salvation, and even petition the Lord for godly spouses for them when they reach adulthood. In this way, we show these children a picture of grace by truly being their extended family.
I love you all dearly!
