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November 3rd – Orphan Sunday
Does your church look like the hands and feet of Christ?
Please take a moment to read this and consider how you proceed the next time you hear someone is adopting.
Recently, I have been added to a couple different adoption groups who have been discussing the issue of fundraising for adoptions. I see all these posts from people who say God is leading them…
which makes me believe they are Christians…
which automatically makes me wonder about their church.
I truly believe that God will provide. I honestly do. I have seen amazing things happen with our own adoptions. I have been completely blown away by God’s provisions. If you are called, then God will provide, BUT what if the church is supposed to be part of that provision? Yes, I know we have to spend money on outreach, missions, saving souls, etc. but what better way to bring a soul to Christ then to show them the love of Christ? Because of this, I believe churches should be passing the plate to collect fees for adoptions over and over again. We should all be happy to help a child find a family because God commands us. He COMMANDS us! He doesn’t mention it in passing. Churches should be the backbone of the fostering and adoption movement.
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless. What does your religion look like?
We should be the hands and feet of God. If everyone gave a little, instead of holding on so tightly to the blessings, that God has given in the first place, then much could be accomplished. That is not to say that families shouldn’t be spending their own money, but if they need help the church should be a safe place that they can go to for help.
Your church is small you say? Hold a garage sale. Everyone has stuff they don’t need anymore. Have a chili supper. Help them with free babysitting so they can work a part-time job. Hold a can drive. Collect change. Make and sell t-shirts. Do something. Anything! Be creative! We did not need financial assistance from our church but our church was great with encouragement, prayers, and meals. Knowing others are there to help goes a long way in not feeling alone.
Too many people are adopting you say. You can’t help them all. Oh, to have such a problem! For God to be calling so many in your church that you feel overwhelmed, what a problem to have. What a blessing. Maybe instead of saying “Oh, there is another family wanting money to bring home an orphan.” Change it to “I have helped another child find a family.” What if at the end of your life you could proudly say “I helped bring 50 children home.” What a testament to what your life stood for – to help the poor, the orphan, the widow. What better way to be a good and faithful servant?
One of my favorite passages from the Bible is Acts 4:32-35 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
How does your church look compared to this?
To be the hands and feet of Christ is not a burden it is a blessing. Open your heart and your eyes to the need. Help a family in need with both spiritual and monetary support.
1 John 3:17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
