14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
Reflection
For the last five weeks I’ve been in a small group taking a Lay Servant certification class about the Caring Congregation. It’s been a great way to learn how to better equip our Caring Team and for our church to learn more ways to connect to be a caring congregation together. What I didn’t expect was that I would become so closely connected with the devoted people in this
small group who love God and care so deeply for their congregations and communities.
Our weekly gatherings became a sacred space where we encountered the movement and guidance of the Spirit, as we struggled together to find ways to reach out to the lonely and hurting people in this broken world. All of us shared that our churches are caring for our church families with less volunteers, less time, less money and less resources. Many in the group were fearful about what would become of their churches in the future. Our Spirit led conversations were raw and honest and moving as we shared our vision for what our church
families can be for each other, and for sharing God’s love with the world.
When I read these verses from Romans describing how we are members of God’s family, the Kin-dom of God, I feel overwhelmed by God’s love and forgiveness. Through Christ each of us
have been adopted as God’s children. This belonging is God’s plan for us, undeserved, a gift of God’s radical grace. God calls us into relationship so that like Jesus, we too can call God our Abba, (a child’s term meaning Papa or Daddy) like we pray in the Lord’s Prayer. We are given access to come into relationship with Holy God, our Abba. We are loved, and we find belonging in the family of God. We are no longer slaves to fear, because we are led by God’s
Spirit who assures us that we are children of God and heirs of the Kin-dom with Christ.
And even though we may suffer for our faith, our inheritance in the Kin-dom will never be taken away from us.
by Jeneene Reduker
For Pondering and Prayer
We don’t need to fear what the future holds because we are God’s children. Our work is Kin-dom work, to seek out the lonely and broken, who like ourselves, need to hear the good news of God’s love that all who are led by the Spirit of God belong to God’s family.
Do you feel led by God’s Spirit in your own life? When have you experienced a sense of belonging as a child of God? Look for small groups at church to experience God’s love and the leading of the Spirit.
Prayer: Holy and Loving Abba, lead us by your Spirit out of fear and into the belonging of your Kin-dom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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