Adopted By The Spirit

TO START

This week we are in the thick of Fall and we most definitely are actually feeling it with the weather, maybe do some s'mores by a fire & start group by answering one of two questions:

  • What’s your favorite thing about the Fall?

  • As you think about your parents/guardians, what are the perks or blessings of being their son or daughter?

TO DISCUSS

This week, our Discipleship Minister preached a sermon in connection to Adoption Awareness Month as we dive into the reality that our identities and self-worth don’t depend on other than the reality that we are children of God who are loved in a way that is neither fragile or fleeting but unconditional and consistent. 

  • Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions: Do I belong? Do I matter? Am I truly loved? Am I safe? Is my past always going to follow me? Does what I’ve done make me unlovable?

    • Share which question you’re most likely to ask. Why do you think this question is stuck in your mind?

Read Romans 8:14-17

  • What are the things in your life that seem to hold you captive to the flesh rather than experiencing freedom by the Spirit? Have you ever looked for belonging outside of God?

  • What benefits do you find in being adopted into God’s family? 

TO DISCUSS

In the sermon, Matt mentioned that sometimes we forget or resist acknowledging the reality that we are both adopted into the family of the resurrected Christ & the suffering Christ. When we are co-heirs with Christ, the suffering is non-negotiable but so is the glory.

  • How do you make sense of this reality? What does it mean for you to be adopted into a suffering family and how does that shape you?

Furthermore, Matt pointed us to the possibility that the Spirit of adoption reframes 3 things that we tend to be held captive by: 1) We can’t look to ourselves to save us, 2) We can’t look to others to save us & 3) We can’t look to the world to save us.

  • Which of these traps is hardest for you to avoid? Do you tend to depend on yourself, others/someone else or the world more to save you or get you into alignment?

TO CLOSE

This past Sunday, we acknowledged and focused on the ways adoption and fostering have impacted people in our midst and we dwelt with the reality that the God we cry out, Abba, Father” too, will go to any length to welcome us into his family as children of God. To close, we want to invite your group to pray for the places each of us find ourselves in the story of adoption. 

  • For those who are adopted:

    • To feel a deep sense of belonging.

    • To be cared for in ways that mirror God’s love for us.

    • To bring healing, wholeness and peace in their stories.

  • For the families who have adopted:

    • For ease of transition.

    • In the magnitude of this decision, they’re cared for by all those around them.

    • Gratitude for the bravery it takes to say yes to adoption.

  • For the adoptive parents and birth parents:

    • For God to strengthen, encourage and uphold them.

  • For those pursuing adoption:

    • Peace in the timing that God provides. 

    • Open-minded to what God’s doing in and through you as you go into the adoption process.

    • Hope in abundance.

  • For this congregation to clearly see how we can stand with the families who’ve adopted and those who have been adopted:

    • For us to know what needs are present and be willing to say yes to supporting those needs.

  • Gratitude that we’re all adopted into God’s kingdom through the work of Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit.  

Matt DeLano