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Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A., Editor

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
St. Mary, Mother of our Lord

And because ye are children--as a consequence of your being adopted into the family of God, and being regarded as his sons. It follows as a part of his purpose of adoption that his children shall have the spirit of the Lord Jesus.

The Spirit of his Son--the idea is, that as the Lord Jesus was enabled to approach God with the language of endearment and love, so they would be. He, being the true and exalted Son of God, had the spirit appropriate to such a relation; they being adopted, and made like him, have the same spirit. The "spirit" here referred to does not mean, as I suppose: the Holy Spirit as such; nor the miraculous endowments of the Holy Spirit, but the spirit which made them like the Lord Jesus; the spirit by which they were enabled to approach God as his children, and use the reverent, and tender, and affectionate language of a child addressing a father. It is that language used by Christians when they have evidence of adoption; the expression of the warm, and elevated, and glowing emotions which they have when they can approach God as their God, and address him as their Father.

Crying--that is, the spirit thus cries, (pneuma--krazon).

Abba, Father--see Rom 8:15. It is said in the Babylonian Gemara, a Jewish work, that it was not permitted slaves to use the title of Abba in addressing the master of the family to which they belonged. If so, then the language which Christians are here represented as using is the language of freemen, and denotes that they are not under the slavery of sin.

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CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

Galatians 4:7: "So you are no longer a slave, but a child; and since you are a child, God has made you also an heir."

Visual aid: a toy airplane.

I want to tell you about something that happens every week all across the country. The day has come which couples have been awaiting for a long time. A baby is about to arrive, but it won’t be at the hospital; it will take place in an airport.

What I have just described is an ADOPTION. In Bible times, it was possible for a slave to be adopted as a son into a rich family. Even though he was born to a poor family as a slave, he has become a son; he now has the name of the rich man who has adopted him.

Because of his adoption, the slave also became an HEIR. Do you know what that word means? It’s not the stuff on top of your head. An HEIR is someone who is given gifts when the parents die. He inherits what they owned as a gift. In some families that can be a lot of money.

You became part of God’s family when you were baptized. Jesus is the one who died so that you might be an heir, that you might be given many blessings.

You are a child of God because Jesus died for your sins. You can look forward to a place in our Father’s house because Jesus died for you. You’re an heir because someone has been very kind to you.

Those little babies on the airplane didn’t become heirs of their parents because they did something. Paul wrote: since you are a child, God has made you also an heir. Their parents took them into their own families and they probably came from countries very far away. It was, as we say, BY GRACE--these parents will be giving and giving, and giving some more to these ADOPTED CHILDREN for the next 18, 20 or more years.

That’s a picture of what you have because God made you His child and heir. Praise Him for his many gifts and for making you a part of His family.

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"God Mary-s Us!" or 
"How To Be A Mary  In A Martha Stewart World"
Isaiah 61:7-11
Rev. Kelly Bedard, B.A., M.Div.

 

The Point: we are anointed with and adorned by the Word of God!

 

The Problem: shame, disgrace, robbery and iniquity, mistrust and misdirection

 

The Promise: our rebellious selves have been and are continually being crucified and our new selves daily being resurrected from the prison house of sin and death

 

Notes:

 

1. Robbery in verse 8 implies robbing and/or deceiving God, the phrase being literally translated "robbery for burnt offering."

 

2.Promises are here made to the Jews returned out of captivity, which extend to all those who, through grace, are delivered out of spiritual thraldom. An unholy soul is like a city that is broken down, and has no walls, like a house in ruins; but by the power of Christ's gospel and grace, it is fitted to be a habitation of God, through the Spirit. (Matthew Henry)

 

3.It is abundantly clear that Christendom is dead; that is, the hope of Christianizing the world by Western imperialism has been exposed and recognized for the falsehood it was. In this sense the church, as Jeremiah and Jesus proclaimed, is going now into exile once more. It has again resumed its identity as a movement, a pilgrimage. (James Sanders)

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