Children & Heirs

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Call to Worship

Leader: Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth.

People: Give us undivided hearts, that we may revere Your name.

Leader: The Lord is faithful and just, abounding in steadfast love.

People: We come to worship the Rock of our Salvation.

Leader: Come, let us lift our voices to the one who gives life and hope.

All: Alleluia! We worship and trust in the living God!

Opening Praise Songs or Hymns | Blessed Assurance (369)

Opening Prayer

Gracious God, we confess that we have failed to live as faithful disciples in Your kingdom. We allow weeds of fear and shadows of doubt to grow in our hearts, preventing us from recognizing Your love and from sharing it as we have been called to do. Forgive us and cultivate in us a spirit of faith, hope, and love. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Passing of the Peace

Children’s Moments | Who Are You Listening To? (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43)

Good morning, everyone!

Today I brought two little friends with me. (Hold up the angel and devil figures.)

If these could talk, what do you think each one would say?

(Let the children answer.)

The “angel” might say, “Be kind. Tell the truth. Help someone.”

The “devil” might say, “Be mean. Be selfish. Do whatever you want.”

In today’s Bible story, Jesus said there are good seeds and weeds growing together in the world. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference. That’s why Jesus tells us not to spend all our time trying to decide who’s a weed and who’s good. He says to trust God, because God knows every heart.

Our job is much simpler.

Every day we decide whose voice we’re going to listen to.

Will we listen to the voice that leads us closer to Jesus…

or the voice that pulls us away from Him?

So this week, when you have a choice, remember these little figures and ask yourself, “Which voice sounds more like Jesus?”

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank You for loving us. Help us listen to Your voice, make good choices, and grow to be more like You every day. Amen.

First Scripture Reading | Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43

Matthew 13:24–30 NIV

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

Matthew 13:36–43 NIV

Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Hymn | Be Thou My Vision (451)

Sharing of Concerns | Prayer Concerns & Pastoral Prayer w/ The Lord’s Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today with grateful hearts, thankful that through Jesus Christ we can call You Father. Thank You for welcoming us into Your family and loving us with a love that never lets us go.

Lord, as we’ve shared the joys and concerns on our hearts this morning, we lift each one before You now. You know every name, every need, every burden, and every celebration. We ask that You would bring Your comfort to those who are grieving, healing to those who are sick, wisdom to those facing difficult decisions, strength to those who are weary, and peace to those whose hearts are anxious.

When we look around and see a world that still groans under the weight of sin and suffering, remind us that You are still at work. Help us to be people of hope, trusting that You are making all things new in Your perfect time.

Guide us this week to live as Your sons and daughters—reflecting Your love, extending Your grace, and pointing others to the hope we have in Christ.

We pray all of this with confidence as Your children, joining our voices together in the prayer Jesus taught us, saying…

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and

the glory, forever. Amen. 

Presentation of Tithes & Offerings & Hymn | Surely the Presence of the Lord (328) x 2

Offertory Music& Doxology

Prayer Over the Offering

Epistle Scripture Reading | Romans 8:12-25

Romans 8:12–25 NIV

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our strength and our redeemer; and Get me behind the cross so that your glory and not mine might shine through; and in spite of the stammering of my speech and the inconsistencies of my character, may your Word be proclaimed and heard here today. 

INTRO

Last week we stood in a courtroom.

Not a courtroom in Washington.

Not one in Columbus.

Not even one here in Washington County.

We stood before the throne of Almighty God.

The charge against us was real.

There was no defense we could offer.

No excuse we could make.

No amount of good works that could erase our guilt.

And yet Paul declared one of the greatest sentences ever written:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

What incredible news!

The Judge has spoken.

The verdict has been announced.

The case has been closed.

But here’s something I’ve learned over the years…

Sometimes we hear the verdict…

…without ever believing it changed our identity.

We know God has forgiven us…

but we still live like defendants waiting for another trial.

We still carry guilt that Christ already carried to the cross.

We still wonder if we’re really accepted.

We still ask ourselves,

“Am I really enough?”

“Does God really want me?”

“Am I just barely getting into heaven?”

Church…

Romans 8 doesn’t stop at the courtroom.

Paul refuses to leave us standing before the judge’s bench.

Instead…

he opens a front door.

Transition into Wesley

John Wesley often said the Christian life is like a house.

God’s prevenient grace draws us toward the porch.

His justifying grace opens the front door through Jesus Christ.

But then Wesley said something many people forget.

The Christian life isn’t about standing in the doorway.

It’s about learning to live inside the house.

And I think that’s exactly where Paul takes us today.

Last week…

the Judge declared us not guilty.

This week…

the Judge steps down from the bench…

opens the front door…

and says,

“Welcome home.”

The Foyer: Freedom (Romans 8:12–14)

So let’s step inside the house.

Before Paul takes us into the family room, he stops with us in the foyer.

He reminds us of something we left outside.

Our old master.

Listen again:

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh…”

Paul says we are no longer obligated to our old life.

Methodist scholar Wilber Dayton writes,

“One who is free in Christ can reply, ‘I do not have to; I am not your slave.’”

I love that.

The world says freedom is doing whatever you want.

Paul says freedom is finally being able to say,

“I don’t have to anymore.”

I don’t have to let anger control me.

I don’t have to let temptation define me.

I don’t have to keep paying on a debt that Jesus has already paid.

Freedom isn’t the destination.

It’s the doorway.

Because God didn’t simply free us from something.

He freed us for something.

He wanted a family.

And that’s exactly where Paul takes us next.

The Family Room

Now Paul takes us into the heart of the house.

The family room.

Listen again:

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship…”

Guests wonder if they’re welcome.

Children know they’re home.

Paul says we’ve received the Spirit of adoption.

This week, as I read those words, I realized something about my own family.

I’ve shared several stories recently about my dad. This week I realized that long before I understood Romans 8…my mom and dad were already living it.

There were three kids in our family.

Today, all three of us have helped raise a child who wasn’t biologically our own.

When Erin and I married, she had a little boy named Michael…who, believe it or not, turned 25 Friday.

My older brother Adam, adopted his nephew and raised him as his own son.

And my sister Natalie, became “Mom” to her stepdaughter.

Three different stories.

Three different circumstances.

One family.

As I look back on birthdays…

Christmas…

Thanksgiving…

family reunions…

I honestly can’t remember a single time my mom or dad ever treated those grandchildren differently.

There weren’t “real” grandchildren…

and “adopted” grandchildren.

There were simply…

their grandchildren.

Looking back…

I realized I had been watching Romans 8 lived out around our family table long before I fully understood Romans 8.

That’s exactly what Paul is saying.

Methodist scholar Wilber Dayton writes:

”‘Adoption’ stresses the privileges and rights that go with one’s inheritance as son.”

God doesn’t merely forgive us.

He brings us into His family.

Not as second-class children.

Not on a trial basis.

Not until we mess up.

But as sons and daughters who can cry,

“Abba, Father.”

In God’s house, there are no favorite children—only loved children.

The Window: A World That Groans (Romans 8:18–22)

Now imagine walking over to the window.

You look outside.

The house is safe.

The Father’s love hasn’t changed.

But the world outside…

is still broken.

Paul says,

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Notice what Paul doesn’t say.

He doesn’t say Christians won’t suffer.

He says our suffering is temporary, but God’s glory is eternal.

Then Paul says something fascinating.

Creation itself is groaning.

The earth knows something isn’t right.

Storms…

Disease…

Death…

Broken relationships…

Even creation is longing for the day when Christ makes all things new.

We know that feeling too, don’t we?

We’ve all had moments where we look around and simply say,

“This isn’t the way it’s was supposed to be.”

Paul says…

You’re right.

It isn’t.

But one day…

it will be.

As children of God, we don’t deny the brokenness outside the window…we simply know it isn’t the final view.

Transition

So what do God’s children do while we wait?

We don’t pretend everything is okay.

We don’t lose hope either.

We wait…

knowing our Father always keeps His promises.

The Porch: Waiting with Hope (Romans 8:23–25)

Let’s step out onto the porch.

If you’ve ever sat on a porch in the evening, you know what it’s for.

You don’t rush.

You don’t panic.

You wait.

That’s the picture Paul gives us.

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Biblical hope isn’t crossing your fingers and wishing for the best.

Biblical hope is trusting that God will do exactly what He promised.

We may not see the whole picture yet.

Our bodies still grow tired.

Our hearts still ache.

The world still groans.

But we’re waiting from a different place.

We’re waiting as sons and daughters.

We’re waiting from our Father’s house.

And because our Father always keeps His promises…

we know what’s coming.

One day faith will become sight.

One day every tear will be wiped away.

One day every room in the Father’s house will be filled with joy.

Until then… we wait.

Not with fear.

Not with despair.

But with hope.

Closing

So today…

leave the courtroom behind.

Walk through the doorway of freedom.

Sit down in the family room and remember whose child you are.

Look honestly through the window, knowing the brokenness isn’t the final view.

Then step out onto the porch…

and wait with hope.

Because you’re already home.

Amen.

As we close this morning, I want to invite you to reflect on one simple question.

Who does God say you are?

Not who your past says you are.

Not who your mistakes say you are.

Not who your fears say you are.

Paul has spent this chapter reminding us that in Christ, we are no longer condemned…we are no longer slaves…we have been adopted into the family of God.

So as we sing our closing song, don’t just let these be words on a screen.

Let them become your testimony.

Because if you belong to Christ…

you are exactly who He says you are.

Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for opening the door and welcoming us into Your family through Jesus Christ.

Thank You that we no longer live as slaves to fear, but as Your beloved sons and daughters.

When this world feels broken, remind us that the final chapter has not yet been written. Give us faith to trust You, courage to follow You, and hope to wait patiently for the day when all things are made new.

As we leave this place, help us live with the confidence of people who know they are loved, accepted, and called by You.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Brother.

Amen.

Our closing song this morning is “Who You Say I Am.” Let’s stand together as we sing.

Sending Hymn | Who You Say I Am (Video)

Benediction