What Do We Want Most For Our Children?

"It is very grievous to see how some professedly Christian parents are satisfied so long as their children display cleverness in learning, or sharpness in business, although they show no signs of a renewed nature. If they pass their examinations with credit, and promise to be well fitted for the world’s battle, their parents forget that there is a superior conflict, involving a higher crown, for which the child will need to be fitted by divine grace, and armed with the whole armor of God. Alas, if our children lose the crown of life, it will be but a small consolation that they have won the laurels of literature or art." -Spurgeon

Adoption

I preached on adoption yesterday in our morning service. For those who like to think about sermons after they are preached, here's a reminder of what we talked about.

Main point: If you've been adopted by God, have a heart for adopting children.

Texts: Galatians 4.1-7 and James 1.26-27

I also mentioned Ephesians 1, which is a good enough chapter to read in its entirety (it mentions God planning the adoption of people before time began) and the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 (Joseph was the true father of Jesus, even as an adoptive father, because the Messiah's lineage is recorded through him rather than Mary).

Soon, the sermon will be up online so you can view it if you'd like.

A website that would be good for you to look at to learn/think more would be: http://www.togetherforadoption.org/

Christmas Gift Idea

Before I forget, I came across a great gift idea for this Christmas for the students in our church. It's a devotional book called "Solo." You can check it out here.
Basically it is a New Testament devotional that has the reader go through four steps each day:
READ a passage.
THINK about its content.
PRAY about what God's revealed to you.
LIVE out the changes it calls for.

This Read, Think, Pray, Live strategy is one I've been trying to teach out students about. Check it out at the bookstore and see what you think. Could be what you need to help your child gain a fresher interest in God's Word. Maybe it could be something you even do together as a family (though the title seems to call for it to be a personal matter).

Note: The one part I don't particularly like about it is that it is designed around "the Message" which is a paraphrase of the Bible rather than a translation. It still retains the basic message of the texts very well, but takes some liberty in translation that I would not. That said, I really like how this is set up and think it could be a HUGE help for your children!

It's on sale at Amazon...click here.