Series: Saints
Message: Adoption
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Japhet De Oliveira
Live Wonder: Jessyka Albert
Live Adventure: Jessyka Albert
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Romans 8:12-17 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: I watched the movie The Karate Kid when it first came out in the mid 1980s. Today, it is mostly known as the source of the phrase “wax on, wax off” and the famous “crane kick,” which has been over-analyzed. It also addresses the concepts of bullying, strength, and mercy. As a young boy, I was naturally mesmerized by the skills of the Kid and the process that he went through to learn them. Several years later, while working at a summer camp in England, I had a large project that involved what seemed like an endless supply of one-inch nails along with a single hammer. I took it upon myself to adopt the Karate Kid method, taught by Mr. Miyagi, of doing a simple task slowly and well. My goal was to hit the nail with one strike only and make sure it went through the wood and into the connecting piece. It was so much fun. Mastering the single strike has been my secret until today. (I would like to add that it helped me completely master the crane kick, but that would have required trying for more than five minutes to learn that move—epic fail.)
As I look back on my life, I realize that there are some areas to which I have applied tremendous effort, discipline, and intentional development, and others that I have simply chosen to ignore (the crane kick). When I was a youth pastor, I use to lead worship. Sing up front, play the guitar, and lead the group or congregation in song. That was until my youth shared an important observation with me: “Pastor,” they said, “you can sing and you can play the guitar—you just can’t do both at the same time!” So I simply stopped playing and leading out. I stopped learning new songs. Occasionally I would pick up my guitar and long to have mastered it but alas, I stopped playing. I stopped developing.
I wonder if this could be the same approach we often take to sin. I wonder if we feel sin is something that we can simply master and control. That all it takes is a little bit more effort on our side. All it takes is slowing down, finding the systems or roots necessary to victory and applying them to our life. When the sins are really large, or the tasks seem impossible (crane kick), we simply ignore them. Or do we all need a Mr. Miyagi in our lives? Someone who works alongside us and finds the right way to teach us, who nudges us and pushes us at times to see what we should really be about? The Apostle Paul, in this passage, clearly believes that the Holy Spirit is active and is the one who makes the difference in our ordinary lives. The Holy Spirit moves us from ordinary to extraordinary when we align our will with His.
Recalibrate: What simple skills have you mastered that have helped you with more complicated areas of your life?
Respond: Pray for the ability to learn from the simple things in life.
Research: What story in the Bible demonstrates for you the compound effect of something good growing into something great?
Remember: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” Romans 8:16 (NIV).
Japhet is senior pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, and was co-founder of the One project. Originally from southeast London, he served in the South England Conference for nine years—as a pastor and later as conference youth director—before moving to the United States in 2006. He is married to Becky and they have two sons, Joshua (18) and Jonah (14).
How can we truly know that we are God’s children? How is this something we can believe with our whole hearts? The message this week is titled “Adoption.” We are being adopted by God as sons and daughters. In our North American culture, adoption is something that requires a ton of legal paperwork. In most cases, you adopt someone who isn’t your biological son or daughter to become your biological son or daughter. But with God we see that it is not necessarily biology or paperwork that makes us family. The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. What testifies that your child is your child?
Do you know what some other words for “Spirit” are in the Bible? Another word that we often hear is “breath.” Do you know a story in the Bible that involves God’s breath? Look up Genesis 2:7. What happens with God’s breath in this story? God breathed life into Adam! When we think about family, we usually think of the people who are related to us by blood. The Bible tells us that we are God’s sons and daughters through adoption, because He chose us. His breath is in us just like it was in Adam! Go outside and play. Run around really hard and when you have to take a deep breath, remember that God has given you His breath of life!
When I was 16, I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder. I am not alone; many people struggle with anxiety, depression, and the many other associated symptoms. Anxiety choked me through most of my childhood. I lived in a constant state of fear of tomorrow. As I have grown older, I still have seasons of anxiety, but you know what no longer has its hold on me? Fear. Fear has no power in my life. I am free to no longer live in fear because I have been adopted as one of God’s very own children. None of us has to be slaves to fear anymore; we are now children of God. A slave does not know what happens tomorrow. A child lives in a sense of freedom because they know their father has tomorrow taken care of. If you have been living in fear, I would encourage you to remember whose you are. You are a child of God. He has tomorrow taken care of. Remember what Verse 15 says: “You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.”