WEDNESDAY'S WORD - ADOPTION - SADELL BRADLEY - NEW LIFE COVENANT CINCINNATI 08/26/15

Sadell & Ms. Marion

Adoption means to legally take another's child and bring it up as one's own, to assume an attitude or position, to assume or accept responsibility for, to formally approve or accept, to start to use or follow (an idea, method, or course of action).  It derives from the Latin adoptare meaning to choose. Yesterday, we celebrated my adoptive mother Marion's 89th birthday in Philly, which makes me a bit nostalgic about the choice that she made to adopt me when she was a single school teacher many years ago.  Adoptions, both legal and assumed are a big part of my family's history.  My grandparents, George and Sadell, took in one of my aunts, Violet, when she was a teenager estranged from her parents.  My cousin Josh was adopted as a baby, and Sherman and I have adopted Robert.  

Sherman, Sadell & Robert

All of the meanings of adoption are important, but the word choose is crucial.  Jesus said of His family of disciples, "You did not choose Me, I chose you." (John 15:6) Adoptions are not unwanted pregnancies, nor are people forced to adopt. A desire is there, and decisions are made and acted upon that are not random.  They change the life of the person and their parent(s) forever.  The day my mom went into the agency, she saw many children but decided I was the one she would choose to love and care for until she dies.  The bible says that God "sets the solitary in families."  He "makes a home for the lonely." (Psalm 68:6) Adoptive families, like all other families are by no means perfect.  Most people understand that children and young people who have been rejected, abandoned and sometimes abused carry scars from trauma into the new family. But everyone involved must make adjustments internally, and explanations for others external of them to grasp the nature of the new relationship. My mother's bravery is inspiring because single people were not encouraged to adopt then. It was a blessing that my aunt and grandfather were also in the home to help to raise me. 

Jesus said believing on, and following Him as Messiah was going to cost us everything - including perhaps some family relationships.  People would be orphaned by this decision and then be grafted into His new family. He said that even His own mother, and sister would not be presumed by blood ties but would become, "Whoever does the will of God" (Mark 3:35):

Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

God the Father's intent and choice is to adopt those who follow Jesus as His children. He has taken us out of the realm of the fear, rejection and emotional displacement we have experienced in this world.  He has given us the Spirit of Adoption and has become our Father. He gives us acceptance in His beloved family, people of all nations, tribes and languages who believe. Not only that, but just as I will receive an inheritance from my mother, God makes us His heirs and gives us His inheritance through Christ Jesus. (Eph. 1:6; Rom. 8:14-17) It is GOOD NEWS that we no longer have to be solitary, love is available to us! 

Today I salute my mom, my family and all of those who have officially adopted, fostered, or taken in someone who was bereft of family connections to demonstrate the Love of Christ in a tangible and eternal way!! May you be rewarded for your faithfulness!!

New Life Covenant is a multi-ethnic, inter-generational and multi-class community.  We are a church for the hurting...because everybody wants to be F.R.E.E!

SUNDAY WORSHIP
at

Urban Artifact

1660 Blue Rock Street, 45223
in NORTHSIDE

Sunday, August 30th

11:00 AM
BRUNCH $10 by 

Anointed for This (served at noon)

Visit New Life Covenant's Website

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - UNREQUITED -Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

UNREQUITED means (of a feeling, especially love) not returned or rewarded. In 2009 the movie, "He's just not that into you," was released, and the title phrase became very popular. The story revolves around nine people whose relationships are at varying degrees of crisis because of the desires, unmet needs and expectations, acceptance or rejection of their partners. The protagonist is Gigi, a woman who falls fast for men and misinterprets their every behavior as genuine love interest. As she goes through various encounters, her friend Alex has to explain to her that the men she has clung to do not share or reciprocate her feelings.  Fortunately, for Gigi, eventually Alex discovers that he loves her.

This meme was especially profound in describing the word unrequited. I, myself have loved long and hard and been ignored and devalued, thinking people loved me the way I loved them. I've also had people attach to me too quickly and become wounded when I did not share their depth of passion. The experience and pain of unrequited love is not isolated to romantic relationships (though the closer one is, the more it hurts). It happens with parents and children, leaders and followers, bosses and workers, and friends. Is this as true for you as it is for me?

Our Lord Jesus was,"despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem." (Isaiah 53.3) His purpose was to love, serve, and die for people who would reject Him. John said, "He came unto His own, and His own received him not." (John 1:11)  Paul stated he wanted to know Christ and participate or fellowship with Him in His sufferings, and become like Him in His death.(Phil. 3:10) If that is true for us, unrequited love, betrayals and rejection are a part of the deal. The same folks who cried Hosanna! a week later were shouting Crucify Him! It is somewhat comforting to know that Jesus, our High Priest, is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." (Heb. 4:15) He empathizes with our weaknesses, but that doesn't take away the pain of unrequited love. It does however, challenge us to make some hard biblical adjustments. Because whether enemy or friend, there are no guarantees that your love will be acknowledged or rewarded...but it should not change.  Jesus gives us a hard command that sets the standard of His love in Luke 6:

27“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

 

It looks like you and I are gonna just have to let the love Christ has for us absorb our pain, and ask for Grace to live out His love for others...Help, Lord!

New Life Covenant is a multi-ethnic, inter-generational and multi-class community.  We are a church for the hurting...because everybody wants to be F.R.E.E!

JOIN US SUNDAY
for WORSHIP at
Urban Artifact
1660 Blue Rock Street, 45223
in NORTHSIDE

Sunday, August 16th 

11:00 AM

Visit New Life Covenant's Website

WEDNESDAY'S WORD ON THURSDAY - EXCLUSIVE - Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnat - 08/13/15

Wednesday's Word is coming to you on Thursday this week.  I was out of town last week, I haven't forgotten! 
Today is my husband Sherman's 50th Birthday!! Please join me in wishing him a very blessed and prosperous jubilee year!! Husband, son, father, grandfather, friend, mentor, pastor and humanitarian! Happy Birthday, babe!! I love you very much!!
   

Our last Wednesday's Word was INCLUSIVE read it here.  This week's word is EXCLUSIVE - excluding or not admitting other things; unable to exist or be true if something else exists or is true; excluding all but what is specified; restricted or limited to the person, group, or area concerned. It is from the Latin excludere, which means 'shut out.'  We stated that the Gospel is inclusive in many ways: everyone has sinned (missed God's holiness) Rom. 3:23. So all are in need of salvation. Each of us is invited to believe in and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, gain a quality of life on earth and access to Heaven. God loved the world so much He sent Jesus to die for all sin. Anyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

I've always been a fan of "If...then" clauses. They're clear, succinct and you know what to expect. "If you pay your bill on time, then you will not incur a late fee. If your payment is late, then you will incur the fee."  The Bible has stated and implied if...then clauses which seem simultaneously inclusive and exclusive. If...then statements are actually called conditional clauses. Some examples:

“If you love Me, obey my commandments. And (or then) I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. John 14:15-17a

"And anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn't obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God's angry judgment." John 3:36 (I didn't say it, Jesus did...)

"If we claim to be without sin, (then) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, (then) he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, (then) we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:8-10 ('thens' added for emphasis)

In Christianity, as in every other belief system, YOU include or exclude YOURSELF by YOUR belief/disbelief and YOUR subsequent choice(s).  It's NOT the picture on the right, where the bullies or mean girls are excluding someone because they're different.  We are ALL free to believe what we choose, even about the existence/or not of God, and the truth/or not of His Word. For a Christ follower, our faith is the foundation. No one has to believe what I believe, nor do I have to believe what they believe. I can tell you what I believe, but I can't force you to agree or accept it. Even Jesus gives us freedom to follow or reject Him. But if we accept Him, we must do so on His terms because He's God! and we're not.

Christ followers believe that God exists (Heb. 11:6), that He sent His son born of a virgin to save mankind (Matt. 1:23), and that Scripture is inspired by God and designed to instruct us (1 Tim 3:16-17). We believe the Bible to be true and attempt to follow it as best we can. We believe we are not saved by our own goodness, but through faith in Jesus Christ's salvation only! (Rom 3:22 NLT) We believe that God's love is unconditional, but His precepts have conditions.  He doesn't want anyone to perish, but all to repent (turn from sin) 2 Pet. 3:9, and follow Jesus Christ wholly with their lives in love...and that includes me and you!

New Life Covenant is a multi-ethnic, inter-generational and multi-class community.  We are a church for the hurting...because everybody wants to be F.R.E.E!

JOIN US SUNDAY
for WORSHIP at
Urban Artifact
1660 Blue Rock Street, 45223
in NORTHSIDE

Sunday, August 16th 

11:00 AM
GOSPEL BRUNCH at 12:00 NOON

featuring Diva G's Catering
$10.00 

 

Visit New Life Covenant's Website