Gotcha Day | Crossland Community Church

He predestined us for do you know that you had a gotcha day? Did you know that you were adopted? Predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will. When I got in the car to go to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was my pleasure to work up wake up at 03:30 in the morning and drag my kids out of bed and my wife out of bed and say, get in the car, we're going. It's gotcha day. It was my pleasure. I was happy to do it. It was my will. I I did it. I was gonna do this. Right? [00:23:32] (36 seconds)  #GotchaDayAdoption

That be do you realize what this is saying? That by your believing and that you're and by your receiving, you now have the authority to be called children of God. And you know who can do who can do anything about it? No one. You. By your believing and your receiving, you have the right. This isn't just capability. This isn't just I have the ability to become a child of God. It means that at the moment you believe and receive, you have the right to be called child of God and no one can do anything about it. No one can ever say that you have a different last name because you're his. Because you're his. [00:20:05] (44 seconds)  #InstantChildOfGod

But brother and sister, we must also receive what God has given to us in benefits of being his child. That not only has our name tag changed, not only has our our status changed with him, and we're no longer lost, we are found, but our position with him has changed. No matter what you have done, no matter where you are, no matter how much doubt you have or how much you haven't forgiven yourself, your heavenly father has favor on you. Favor. And the moment that he put that pen to paper and he signed his name, he meant it. She's mine. But not only that, I'm hers. [00:41:22] (51 seconds)  #AdoptedAndFavored

And I said, okay. And I walked back in, and I grabbed the pen, and there was a guardianship agreement in front of me. And the moment I signed that agreement, she was mine, and no one could do anything about it, even me. And I took that pen, and I signed my name to that paper. And in that moment, she was mine. No one could do anything about it. She was mine, and I was hers. And at the moment of our salvation, this is the same story that we believe and that we receive, and in that moment, though we were dark and dismal and our situation was gray and and hopeless, in that moment, we believed we became just like that little girl did to me. [00:14:09] (57 seconds)  #SignedIntoFamily

We experience that. We're no longer lost. We're found. We're no longer orphans. We're children of God. We experience a new status. But for all of us, we must understand that not only do we get a new status, but a new position. We're brought near with God through the adoption that happens at the moment of our salvation. No one can do anything about it, and it happens instantaneously. Believe, receive, you're in. Status change, position change immediately. [00:17:25] (33 seconds)  #InstantAdoption

Did you know that when he looks at you, he doesn't see broken? He doesn't see sin? He doesn't see shame? He sees holy. He sees blameless. Why? Because he chose us in his son, Jesus Christ, before the beginning of everything, before all creation. For in love, because he loved us, he predestined. Do not get tripped up on this word. This means forethought. Church has been divided for such a long time because of this, because he had forethought, because he had wisdom, because he discerned and understood what was going to happen. [00:22:49] (43 seconds)  #ChosenBeforeCreation

We, as children of God, we, as believers, those who have believed and received, have a leg up on trees. For us, it's not grafting. For us, it's a it is a moment in time at the moment of our salvation that is called adoption. It's the moment in which we believe, receive, and at that moment, two things change in our life. Our status changes. That's our name tag. Who we are. Our last name changes. Right? That's what happens in adoption. [00:04:24] (38 seconds)  #NameChangeInAdoption

This she's gonna be mine. You know, the father thinks that same way about you. It was his pleasure. It's his goodwill for you to be adopted through his son, Jesus Christ. He did it. He did it. It's always been God's plan to restore our status to sonship, to restore our title to sonship. It's always been God's plan to restore our status to sonship, that we would no longer be old creation. We would be new creation. We'd no longer be orphaned. We would be his child. It's amazing. It's always been his plan. He's always thought this. [00:24:08] (42 seconds)  #GodsPlanForSonship

Listen. If we need, we have a father that cares for us, and this is a benefit that you and I have as children of God. This is a benefit that we have in our moment of believing and receiving, adopted in, title change, position change. Now we are in favor. We can now ask him for things and know that he will provide. He's our father. Father. And you know what? He knows more about what you need than what you need. Sometimes it doesn't show up the way that you expected, but he still fulfills it. He still takes care of it. Ask him. [00:36:46] (38 seconds)  #FatherProvides

For God chose me and you, in Christ before the creation of the world, before everything. He chose us in Christ to be what? Broken? Burdened? Shameful? Hurt? He chose us to be holy and blameless in his sight. Do you realize that when the Lord looks at you, when the father, when your heavenly father, if you are if you have received and believed, you're now a child of God, you wear the name tag proudly. Did you know that when he looks at you, he doesn't see broken? [00:22:07] (46 seconds)  #ChosenAndBlameless

I will tell you this. It's true. But I'm I know what I said this morning as I got out of bed and thought, golly, it's 04:30 in the morning. Lord have mercy. I know what I did yesterday when no one would sweep the floor, and I had to sweep the floor. I know what I did. I I understand who I am better than anybody else understands who I am, except for the Lord. And so for me to consider myself favored, it's it's kinda hard to swallow, isn't it? But you are. [00:29:48] (30 seconds)  #YouAreFavored

You are. The moment and you don't have to work your way into it. It's not something that you have to, like, work your way up the ladder and then, oh, favored status. You have that. Listen. The moment the pen hit the paper, my daughter became my daughter, and she was favored by me. The moment I signed that paper, she could do nothing about it. You're mine, and I'm yours. You're no longer an outcast. You're in. You're no longer decrepit. You have a family. There's no longer it's no longer hopeless. There's hope. Right? [00:30:18] (35 seconds)  #FavoredAndFamily

Brother and sister in Christ, if you've believed and received, listen. If you've not believed and received, please hear. See what great love the Father has lavished, remember that word, abundance, liberally just popped the top off and poured it on us. See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are, exclamation point. That's what we are, children of God. Truly. I believe that we understand very often that our title has changed when you have believed and received. [00:40:37] (46 seconds)  #LavishFatherlyLove

And if you if no one had anything to do with if your bloodline had nothing to do with it, if a human decision had nothing to do with it, no one can do anything about it. You are his child. You have authority as his child to wear the name tag. I'm a child of God, and you can't do anything about it. Right? That's what that's what we're being told right here. Through belief in Jesus, he gives us the right to become his children. We now have that authority through him. [00:21:21] (36 seconds)  #AuthorityToBeCalledChild

We have benefits that experience. No one else outside of the family can experience. We get to call him dad, and because we get to call him that daring dad, right father, we have an inheritance that no one else can have. It's our inheritance, and it was once not ours, but we've been brought into the family. The moment that I signed that paper, I accepted everything that little Meily was. I accepted everything in her past, which was only a couple days, so she hadn't done much, but I also accepted everything about her and what she was going to do in the future. [00:27:34] (40 seconds)  #HeirshipAndInheritance

But this is also an obedient love. This is a we don't serve God out of a fear that he's gonna smite us in that moment. We serve him out of a love. I hope that my children serve me that way, that when I ask them to do something, they don't say, oh, man. He just tells me to do that because he doesn't like me. I hope they understand that I love them, and they should serve my family because of that. This isn't a free pass. Okay? It's also a call for us to lovingly be obedient, lovingly follow the Lord. [00:34:49] (38 seconds)  #LovingObedience

God disciplines you, sometimes says no, because he wants you to become a disciplined believer. Endure hardships as discipline. It's not because he doesn't like you. God's treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? You know, this is we talk about this. This is not God is not our heavenly grandfather. You know what grandparents are good for. Right? Spoiling grandkids. That's exactly what they're there for. Please don't give them candy while we go on date night. We get back and the entire tub of chocolate ice cream has been eaten. It's not candy. [00:39:29] (38 seconds)  #FatherlyDiscipline

Is there a greater gift that the Lord could give to us than his spirit? That the spirit of the living God would come and not just be around us, not just be in a church where we come and worship, but would live within us, that he sent his spirit to us? Because you're his sons, God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. The spirit who calls out, Abba, father, this is an endearing term that we get to use now because the spirit calls it out. Right? The spirit who calls out Abba Father, God sent that same spirit of his son into our hearts. Now we get to call him [00:25:18] (36 seconds)  #AbbaSpiritWithin

But also, and more so, we need to understand that not just our status changes, our position changes. Our proximity changes. No longer are we who we used to be, we're now a new creation. But also, no longer are we far from God, we're brought near to God. And that's what we're gonna talk about today. [00:05:01] (22 seconds)  #BroughtNearToGod

She is a joy to have in my home, and truly, she is mine. She is mine. Her title has changed. And this wasn't about a last name. We worked that out a year later, and and on a FaceTime call with a judge, the gavel fell, and and she became an Anglin. But not just that's not the one the most wonderful thing. The most wonderful thing is not just that she is mine, but it's that I am hers. Her title didn't just change. Her position changed. She is now a part of my family, and she has all the benefits that come from being a part of my family. Gosh. I just wanna leave it there. I really can I [00:16:05] (69 seconds)  #NowPartOfTheFamily