Amen. What a cool video, y'all. That was incredible. And yeah, we can praise God for that. One of the things that's just incredible about that video, it just goes so nicely with our theme because, hey, we're talking about family.
We're seeing images of family. Man, we're, and hey, for some, it's like you're blessed to have that or come from that. For others, you're like, man, I've never had that type of family. I've never had that type of blessing, but we long for it. And all of those kind of images and the nostalgia of Christmas and sitting around the table, we're going to try to chase a theme today from Romans 8 that shows us how we get into God's version of that, right?
How do we get to the Lord's table with God as our father and Christians, the Christian community as our brothers and sisters in Christ?
So we're going to be in Romans 8 today. If you want to take out your copy of scripture and turn with me there, I want to do this as well. Hey, every year at our Christmas services, we always try to bring different groups in to try to bless them from our community.
So this year, we've been able to invite all of the social workers from Guilford County to our Christmas services.
Now, the great thing about doing Christmas at the Ridge is that we all get to come. Together. The bad thing about it is you got to do it seven times.
Okay. And so I don't know where you know what services people may have attended, but if there are some of our social workers from Guilford County here, can we just show some appreciation to them and what they do? Hey, if you're one of those awesome social workers, we want you to know that you have a partner in Mercy Hill. You have a friend in our church. The reality is that we know that what you guys do, very few people can do.
It takes an incredible amount of heart and courage. It takes an incredible amount of savviness dealing with people that are in very hard situations. And so we just want you to know, man, that we're here, we're for you. In fact, if you're here today, you are an honored guest, and we want you to stop by our first-time guest tent. We have a special gift.
Now, all of you that are first-time guests, we'd love to have you in our first-time guest tent. We have a gift for you. But if you're one of those awesome social workers, we have a special gift for you.
So please stop by and let us know that you came to our service. I also want you to know if you're part of that Gilbert County system there and even for our church, I just think this is really important to know. We've got a chance to really bless you guys. We've gotten some feedback from our people that run the DSS here in Gilbert County. And we've asked them what could we do to bless you?
Not just something we want to do, but what could we do to actually bless you guys? And there's a backyard at one of their facilities called the Dundas House. This is a very generic kind. Of backyard, and you know, they've said, Hey, what would be great is if because parents are meeting their kids in that backyard and they're trying to reunite and they're working their plan, it'd be awesome if we could do something of a shelter, a covering, a place that they can get out of the sun, a place they can get out of the rain. They've also asked us, Hey, could we do sort of a storage building that would be you know, maybe even stocked for Mercy Hill that would be a really great blessing because they have kids that come there and they need, man, you know, they need formula and they need clothes and they need everything that you can need for a couple of days before placement.
And so, hey, we're going to talk more about this in January, February. But based on the multiply offering, guys, we've already committed to them to fund and build both of those projects.
So, can we give God some praise for that? And we hope it's going to be a great blessing. You guys will hear more about that right at the beginning of the new year. All right.
Now, if you have a copy of scripture, turn with me to Romans chapter 8. Man, really excited for our message here this morning. We're going to talk about family, y'all, what it means to be in the family of God. That's what we're trying to set up this weekend. We see an image of family.
Now, let's talk about the family of God. All right.
Now, how you get in and who's in is the topic of our message today and the topic of Romans chapter 8. If I just said to you, hey, who is in the family of God? What we end up with is a lot of cliche answers from our culture that are very weak and they crumble upon examination. If I say to you, hey, it's just generically in culture, well, who's part of the family of God? people would say, well, we're all part of the family of God.
Okay, so being born makes you part of the family of God. Yes, if you're a human, you're part of the family of God.
Okay, so we're saying Hitler's part of the family of God, right? We're saying Joseph Stalin is part of the family of God. Vlad the Impaler. Is now part of, which everybody, nobody knows who that is. It's Dracula, okay?
So Dracula is now part of the family of God, right? And it's like, well, as soon as you say that to somebody, it's like, well, no, I didn't mean that. I didn't mean like Dracula is part of the family of God. That wasn't my, okay. It's a cliche answer.
It fails upon the slightest bit of pushing. People will say, well, you know, okay, you got to believe in God. All right, well, you believe in God, you're in the family of God.
Okay, so if I just generically believe in God, any God, then I'm part of the family of God. Yes, believe in God, family of God. You know, the Bible tells us that the demons believe and tremble before God.
So now what we're saying is that the demonic realm is part of the family of God.
Well, no, I'm not really, I didn't, that's not what I meant. I'm not saying that.
Well, then, what are we saying? You know, another way people say, well, it's if you're a good person.
Okay, so if you're a good person, you're part of the family of God. That sounds right.
Okay, good cliche. Be good, be part of the family of God.
Okay, how do you define good?
Well, let's just kind of go to the Ten Commandments. Let's ask it of ourselves. Have any of us in here ever lied, stolen anything, or taken the Lord's name in vain?
Now we're not now none of us are part of the family of God apparently, right? You see how quickly these things just fail. They sound good. We like to believe them because then we don't have to think very deeply. They fail pretty fast.
Here's what I want to show you today. Christmas provides the answer that clichés never will. Christmas shows us what it means for us to be in the family of God and what it took to bring us into the family of God. Here's a big idea for the weekend: Jesus came to bring us into God's family. Christmas is about how God puts his family together and the sacrifice that he made of his son to bring us together and to be part of God's family.
Y'all, the entrance into God's family runs right through Bethlehem. And we get a chance to see it this Christmas. All right, let me start in Romans chapter 8. And I just want to answer two questions, and then I'm going to be done. Who's in the family, and how do you get to be in the family?
Romans 8:12 says this: So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.
Now, when it says according to the flesh, that's talking about our sinful nature. I'm giving in to my sin. We all have propensities to it. We have things that we walk in that are not godly.
Now, if you're led by those things, you will die. But it says, if led by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Now, don't you understand what it's saying? There's two paths. There's one path, fight sin, hate sin. There's another path that is love sin, make friends with sin. And the difference is: are you led by the Spirit or are you led by the flesh?
Now, I don't want to bury the lead. The Bible doesn't bury the lead. I set up a whole intro of who is in the family of God. Verse 14 answers it. Right here on its face, look what it says.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, are the family of God.
Now that's it. The first question is: who's in the family? And the answer is: those who are led by the Spirit. You could say it like this: the children of God are led by the Spirit of God. That's who's in God's family.
It's not just because we were physically born, generically believed, or tried to do good works. That's not it. What it is, is the leading of the Holy Spirit, that you would be the type of person who, because the Spirit is leading you, you love what God loves or try to, there's a war in yourself about the things of the flesh, the things of sin. You could kind of say it like this: there's really only two paths: led by the Spirit, hate sin, fight sin. Maybe you don't win the fight.
Okay, there's times where it's like, hey, this thing has a hold of me or whatever, but I'm warring against it. That's the mark of being led by the Spirit. Of course, on the other side, you have led by the flesh. Love sin, make friends with sin. Make friends and bring into your heart and home that thing that wants to kill you.
That's what sin is. It wants to kill us physically, it wants to kill us spiritually, and yet we can bring it in.
Well, which is it? What are the two paths? Which one are you on? You know, the thing about sin coming into your life and wanting to kill you, it reminds me of a story from 2002. There was a guy named Ronald Huff.
Ronald Huff had seven six-foot-long Nile monitor lizards as his pets that he let roam free in the house.
Okay, just all in the house, bedroom, kitchen, everywhere. One of them one day, because this is what they do, bit him and then followed him around for two weeks, waiting for him to get staph infection and die, which he did. And then the other lizards ate him in his apartment. Merry Christmas, by the way, okay? I know it's a pleasant thought.
You don't make friends with that thing that wants to kill you. And this is what we're saying here. Part of the family of God are people who are led by the Spirit, who are not going down that path. It's like, no, I'm warring against that thing that wants to kill me. Of course, the other side is being led by the flesh.
Man, I'm just making friends that I'm bringing it into my home. Here's what I want you to understand today. I don't know, listen, I don't know how you came in, I don't know what your philosophy background is, religion background, any of that stuff, right? But here's the thing: many of us have come in today not knowing the purpose for which we were created. And I want to tell you.
Romans 8:14 is a pretty good verse if you're trying to figure out what your purpose is. Led by the Spirit. All right, take your place in the family of God. To glorify him by living a life that is led by the spirit of God. That is your purpose.
You and I were created for a reason, and we don't get to define what that reason is. Only a creator defines purpose. I don't know about you. I just sort of woke up one day in this world. I didn't create me.
I didn't create the world. You're the same way, right? We don't get to define that. And God's definition of why we are here is that we would bring glory and honor to him by living a life that is honoring to him, obedient to him. That's a led by the spirit life.
You have a purpose. I've told you guys this before, but I'll show you my dog. This is my dog, Susie. I've talked about Susie before. Susie, her name is Susie the Uzi, okay?
And Susie, she's not real big, but she's a firecracker. She's a hog-hunting dog. She's a mountain cur, and she's been bred for 100 years to do one thing. Find the hog, bark at the hog, okay?
Now, it's a dangerous proposition. That's why she's wearing a Kevlar vest. I don't want you to mistake that for clothes. My dog don't wear clothes, okay? That's a Kevlar vest because it's sort of a dangerous deal.
This dog has an incredible purpose in life, I'll tell you that.
Now, let me show you another dog from somebody in our staff. This is Theo, okay? Theo has no purpose at all. I can't even tell you which way Theo's looking half the time, okay? And Theo is what I call an exister.
He exists. That's about the best we can do for Theo.
Now, here's what I want to tell you. You were created to be more of a Susie, not a Theo. You have a purpose in this life. And it's to be led by the Spirit and honor God with your life.
Now, this is the part where people can get confused, and I gotta be very clear.
Some of us are going to take what I'm saying as religion instead of gospel. And what I mean is, you're going to think to yourself, okay, all right, so to be part of the family of God, I've got to muster up the strength to fight against sin and do the right thing and be a moral person. Listen, I want you to do the right thing. I want you to fight against sin. I want you to be a moral person.
But those things don't come because you're trying to get into the family of God. Those things come because you're already sure you have a place at the table. They flow from the gospel. They flow from what God has done in our life. See, if you've ever been, you could have even been around preaching in your life.
Religion is real simple, and it's every faith on the face of the planet except for true Christianity. Religion says, I do the right thing, God has to accept me. I will build up my resume of works and I will bring it before God and He'll let me in the pearly gates one day. I mean, I ain't trying to win any awards, you know, but I'd love to get in. And so I'm gonna do the best that I can and I'm gonna try to, you know, give that to the Lord and He'll let me in.
And it's religion, man. It's working. It's working for your salvation. It's trying to bind God up in some kind of a guilt deal. It's not what the Bible sets forth.
What the Bible sets forth is different. You didn't need to get better. You need to get new. There's no way that you can work your way out of a problem that you worked yourself into. We need something different.
Okay, who is in the family of God? Very simple. Those who are led by the Spirit. How do I become a spirit-led one? It's all about adoption.
Look what it says in verse 15. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons. God chose you, you came running. He paid the price for you.
Now you're in the family. That's what adoption is. It's not physically born, it's not generically believed, it's not do good works. It's God had to do something, the spirit of adoption. By whom we cry out, Abba, Father.
Did you know pretty much every language on the face of the planet has a short little word that kids all over the world in their language say for daddy? Dad, dad, dad, pah, pah, pa, Abba. Why do we do that? Because every child, there's a place that cries out for father and family and table and a place. That we're supposed to have.
That ultimately finds its home in the Lord. That we would cry out to Him because of our adoption. Abba, Father, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God. Guys, here's what I want you to understand today. You come in one way.
through the spirit of adoption. If you're going to come to be part of God's family, it's going to happen because He chose you and you come running. And you accept that this is the deal, that Jesus paid the price of your adoption, and you have been brought in. You can say it like this: the only way to come into God's family is through spiritual adoption. What is adoption?
Adoption is we weren't family and now we are. Adoption is there's no blood relation, but I've brought you in and now we could not be more family if there was different blood running through your veins. Let me tell you this, let me give you a little fact. You know that Barner Research says that Christians are two times as likely to adopt children as any other faith in the country, okay? Twice as likely.
Now, I'm going to tell you, I've never seen research on this, but I bet you this is true because I've been in the game a long time. I bet you, if you expanded that and you said, what is the faith that produces the most adoptions when the adoptive parents already have biological children in the home? And I bet you that goes from two to one to 10 to 1 or 100 to 1. Why? Why would Christians do that?
Very simple. Because we understand what it means to be spiritually adopted. In our sin, we did not deserve a place in the family, but God lavished his love upon us to call us the sons and daughters of his. This is my daughter, Faith Ann. Many of you guys know her.
This is on her gotcha day, we call it, okay?
Now, this is nine years ago, almost, or eight years ago, almost. But if you see her shirt, it says forever a hopper. Faith Ann was born in February of 2017, but this picture was taken on March 8th of 2018. It was a year later. But that's what got you day is.
This is the day that her adoption decree was signed. She could not be anymore a hopper if she had different blood running through her veins. There is absolutely no difference between her and between my other children, legally and spiritually. It doesn't matter that we don't share DNA. She has been adopted into our family, and that's it.
I heard a story one time about. A woman who was going through an airport, they were a transracial family. We have that a lot here at Mercy Hill when you have adoptions and things like that. And the child that she had looked different from the family. And the TSA agent was pressuring her, was giving her some grief about it, like questioning the child, are you sure this is your mom?
All that kind of stuff. And it finally started boiling up a little bit. And the woman came prepared because it wasn't the first time it had happened. She pulls out the child's adoption decree. Right from her purse.
And she says, I don't care what you think about it or how you feel about it or how it looks. The paper says family. It doesn't matter about the blood DNA. What matters is we have legally been bunny. You've been chosen to come in.
Hey, I meant to do this. Hey, I'll show you another picture of Faith Ann. She's doing great, kissing the Grinch.
Okay, I thought you guys might like that at Revolution Academy, a school we love, all right? And so I just want you to understand. The way that faith in came into our family is the only way that any of us come into God's family. We didn't deserve it. We can't work for it.
Somebody chose us, paid the price. And then every analogy breaks down a little bit because you're talking about a little child, but then you have to accept it. You have to be willing to run into the Lord's arms.
Now, if you've never heard the gospel before, it's an adoption story, it runs right through Bethlehem. That's what we're talking about today. Jesus Christ was given to pay that adoption price, if you want to put it like that, to bring you into his family. Let me tell you the gospel, okay? This is not religion, this is the gospel.
It's different. The gospel is that you and I, in our sin, have broken our relationship with God, and it can never be put back together. God is holy and he is righteous. There is no amount of I'm gonna do better, try harder, be the new me in 26 or whatever. None of that matters.
In sin, that ship sailed. God had to do something that we couldn't do. And he did. He promised to do at the very beginning of time. And then he did it.
2,000 years later, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born into humanity, 100% God, 100% man. And he came and he lived the life that you and I didn't live. Our life is filled with sin. His life was filled with righteousness. Period.
At the end of his life, he didn't deserve death because the wages of sin is death, but he had never sinned. But what did he do? He went to the cross willingly for you and I. In our place to pay the price that we owed. Theologians call it the great exchange.
You could say it like this. Jesus went to the cross and he took what we deserved. And he gave us what he deserved. What we deserved is death, he took it. What he deserved is life before God.
He opens that up for us. And three days later, in his resurrection, he says, Hey, you come, admit your sin, believe in what I have done, confess me as the Lord of your life, and you will be joined with me. You will be born again. You will be adopted into my family and have a forever purpose. Man, an identity, a family of believers.
You'll never feel alone in your life. The Spirit of God will come into your life. And these are the things that we get when we come to Him. And it all runs right through Bethlehem. It's the gift that God gave for our adoption.
So here's our application for this weekend: joyfully take your place in God's family. Joyfully take your place in the family of God. If you're going to come in, it's going to come by spiritual adoption, but you have that opportunity today. You can't earn it. You don't work hard to get it.
Adoption is something that you receive and you have the opportunity because Jesus Christ came. And he was given to us, the greatest gift it's ever been.
Some of us might remember the old translation that many of us grew up on.
Some of you never heard it, but the King James Version says it like this: Luke 2:11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. That is the moment where the greatest gift that was ever given to humanity. came into the world and we celebrated at Christmas. And if you would accept him.
All of life comes with him. I want you to think about it like this. Do you give up some things to follow Jesus? Absolutely. But you gain everything.
You gain a purpose in this life, you gain never feeling alone, you gain an afterlife that is sure. Man, you have brothers and sisters to call upon as family. Man, you have a relationship with him. You build that faith muscle in your life over the course of your life and maturity. Man, it all comes with him.
You have a mission and a purpose and a destiny and it all comes with him. I pray that you would receive this gift today. You know, I heard a story one time. About a wealthy man. Who had had a lot of tragedy?
His wife had died. And his son was just the apple of his eye, but at 17 years old, his son was killed in a car accident. The man was so wealthy, every type of possession you could have, artwork, toys, I mean, just everything you could imagine. The kid dies and man his heart is broken. He dies a few years later.
And it's time to auction off all their things because there's just, there's no error, there's nobody to take it. And so, man, people come from miles and miles around because this is just, I mean, this is the auction event of the century. I mean, this guy's got all the stuff, and everybody's there to get something cheap, and they've come in from all over the place. And the auctioneer is looking at the will and he says, okay, well, according to the will, there's one item that has to go first. And he pulls out a painted portrait of the man's son that was taken just a short time before his untimely death.
And it's a robust image. I mean, it's just he's healthy and he's strong and it's beautiful. And he says, all right, we're gonna auction off the picture first. And he says, hey, we're gonna do $20 for the picture. Let's see who wants the picture.
Nobody raised their hand. That ain't why they're there, man. They're there for all the good stuff, not for the picture. They're not there for the family, the nostalgia. They're there for the stuff.
After a few minutes, An elderly lady steps forward and she says, I would love to have that picture. I nursed that child when he was young. I watched him grow up in this house. I've worked here forever. $20 is a lot of money for me, but I would love to have that and be able to take that and preserve the memory of the wealthy man's son.
And I would love to have it. As soon as she said, I want it. Bang, the auctioneer's gavel falls. Everybody's like, what is he doing? He says the auction's over.
And they said, what are you talking about? He pulls out the will. Everyone's upset. We came here for all this stuff. He says, hey, the will says it plain as day.
Whoever takes the sun takes it all. Here's what I want you to understand at Christmas. Whoever takes the sun takes it all. There is life, purpose, destiny. There's a mission.
There's a family. How about never ever one more time in your life feeling alone? Because the Spirit of God is with you sticking closer than a brother. Then I want this for you. It all comes down to this.
What have you done with the sun, right?
So, hey, two applications. The first, believers quickly. Man, if you're a believer, I said this, joyfully take your place in God's kingdom. Joyfully take your place in God's family. Hey, this Christmas, all the fun, family, man, the things that are going on in your life, can we just pause?
And can we just say, hey, the blessings of God in my life. Man, they come because he gave. He gave his son. And everything came with him. And let's just remember that and be joyful over that, all right?
But the second type of person here, you're not a believer. And I think you guys break down probably into a couple camps, okay? And there's dozens of people here that are not believers, and there will be every one of our services, you know? If that's where you're at, I wanna just talk to you for a moment.
Some of you are not believers and you're just thinking, man, I'm not, this is so new. I'm not taking any big steps today, or I didn't come here for that, or whatever.
Okay. But here's the thing. If you got some things in your life that you know need to radically change, I want to just kind of clue you in on something here because you're probably making a bunch of plans that these things are going to change in 2026. You're going to get healthy. Things are going to heal up.
Man, you're going to work on the marriage. You're going to try to get your temper under control. Whatever it is, you're going to, man, 2026 is going to be my year. Listen, ain't nothing about the calendar got the power to change your life. The clock's gonna strike midnight.
It's like Cinderella. The clock's gonna strike midnight, December 31. And all the trappings are going to go away and you're still just going to be you. It's gonna be a new year, but it's gonna be the same you. But there is one who has the power to change your life.
And here's my challenge to you. What if you gave him a chance in 2026? You say, well, how do I give them a chance? Two ways: get around God's people and get around God's preaching. All right, preaching and people.
Get around the word of God. Come listen to, hey, hear sermons, get a Bible. And then I would say, hey, get around the people of God. And you see, I'm telling you, you might look back in a year, Christmas 2026, and say, man, everything about my life is different because I got around preaching and people. I hope you'll do that.
But the second group is those of you who listen, God has been after you for a while. We call him the hound of heaven. He's chasing you down, man. And you know it. I mean, he's bringing people into your life.
You're hearing sermons like this and your heart burns. you know it's time for you to turn the keys over. To say, God, it's time for me to step over the line and quit thinking about it and talking about it and instead be about it. And maybe today's the day for that. You can say it however you want.
It's time to get saved. It's time to step over the line. It's time to ask Jesus in your heart. It's time to become a Christian. Whatever you want to say, I would say it like this: it's time to receive the spiritual adoption.
and become a spirit-led person. And I pray that that will happen in your life today. I'm just going to ask everybody to bow their head and close their eyes for just a minute. Just kind of get quiet before the Lord. Let's try not to think about lunch and everything that's going on in this next.
Couple hours here, or what you got going tonight or tomorrow. Let's just. Let's just zero in here for just a moment. Clear your mind. Hey, is the hound of heaven after you?
Is it time for you to give your life over to the king? Is it time for you to receive the son? He who takes the sun takes it all. If today is the day of salvation for you and you know it, Then I'm going to lead you in a prayer to admit your sin, believe in what he has done. and confess him as the lord of your life.
If you want to become a Christian, You want to stop playing games. Guys, we've seen people do this in every service, this is our sixth service. And we've seen people get saved and get baptized in all five before this. I bet you there's people here right now. You know it.
You came here for this reason. Even though you didn't know it, this is why you're here. A million different circumstances have brought you to this place. You pray this prayer with me if it's your time. You say, God, I know that I'm a sinner.
I know there's nothing I can do to come into your family on my own. But I believe that Jesus paid the price for the power. for my adoption. I believe he died for my sin on the cross. And I believe he was raised to new life, of which I can join.
in the resurrection. and I confess him as the Lord of my life. Are you getting saved right now? It's the spirit of. God moving in your heart.
Is there a celebration happening in heaven as the angels rejoice? Father, I pray that you would give us incredible amounts of courage right now. Lord, as we take next steps, and Father, I pray that those who have just prayed to receive Christ would not wait. God, but they would turn over this new leaf, drive a stake in the ground. give you their obedience.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. Can we give God some praise for his spirit working in this room today?
