From Orphans to Sons: Finding Home in God

The love of God is the mightiest force in the universe. Hell cannot intimidate it, fear cannot silence it, rejection cannot extinguish it, and death itself could not overcome it. If God is for us who can stand against us? Love has the power to break every chain. Whatever it is you're struggling with today disappointment, grief, exhaustion, rejection, feeling unseen, maybe you're struggling with an area of addiction, heaven does not call you an orphan. You are deeply loved, deeply wanted, deeply welcomed, and today, I believe God wants to heal hearts. [01:31:01] (44 seconds)  #LoveBreaksChains

So how was Jesus able to sleep in the middle of a storm when their very lives were in danger? Jesus wasn't asleep because he didn't care. He cared greatly. He could sleep because he was at peace, because he knew the father. Storms don't create identity crisis. They only reveal what we're really anchored in. And we see this every time a storm happens, and we've seen people freak out. Hey, I freak out. When a storm hits, how do you respond? Do you respond like an orphan or do you respond like a son? [01:07:33] (54 seconds)  #AnchoredNotAfraid

Today we're surrounded by an epidemic of loneliness and we're the most connected generation apparently but also the loneliest. So we're the most the generation where we think that we know the most, we have the most information, but probably the least wisdom. We can literally send people to the moon, FaceTime someone on the other of the world, hello, but still often out if someone leaves us on scene. Wars, strife, division, all of it drives people away from each other and into isolation and orphan spirit lives from lack, fear and self protection, sonship lives from love, security and belonging. [01:20:45] (57 seconds)  #FromOrphanToSon

All of us have moments where we feel overwhelmed, where we momentarily forget whose we are and who we are, and we panic and we can even be like the disciples and and of Jesus and and ask, are you aware of this storm, Jesus? Are you aware of this threat in my life? Where are you? Do you even care? Are you asleep? Have you ever prayed that? We forget the promises that God has given to us that says he will always be with us and that he will never leave us, that he will walk with us even through even through the valley of the shadow of death. [01:12:59] (46 seconds)  #GodNeverLeaves

And what's that truth? It's the truth of how loved, accepted, and welcome we are. God is our home. God is our home. I hope you've not had a great home. I encourage you to press in to lean in to God as your home. Even if you've had a great home, I encourage you to do the same because when the storms of life hit, leaning into him as our home is the safest place we can ever be. [01:17:59] (36 seconds)  #GodIsHome

Jesus simply revealed another way. He lived a life anchored in the father, not driven by fear, not ruled by storms, but a life rooted in and belonging. Hello, Wyattia. Because sonship is not the absence of storms because we can't avoid them. Right? But it's knowing who we are and that we're not alone through them. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers them from the all. And maybe today for some of us, God is gently exposing the places where we've been orphaning out. Not to condemn us, but to invite us home again into something better. [01:22:58] (46 seconds)  #LiveAnchoredInFather

God releases courage to us through fathers and mothers and we need spiritual sons and daughters, we need wisdom from older generations and we need the fire and courage and faith of younger generations. Yeah. The kingdom has always been generational. One generation commends your works to another. That means we're meant to strengthen one another through generational partnership. Gideon's talked a lot about prophetic partnership but we want to walk in generational partnership that we're one family. I I don't want Harmony to be this church that's divided through layers of different demographics through ages. I want us to be together. Absolutely. [01:27:15] (47 seconds)  #GenerationalFaith

We need one another. We need the wisdom and the encouragement and the fire of each other. We need to remind each other of who we are when storms make us forget. We're to remind each other we're sons and daughters not orphans because isolation distorts our identity. The enemy loves to separate us and to get us offended and withdrawn and independent and disconnected because orphans think they're fine by themselves. The number of times I've heard, I don't need anyone I just need Jesus and coffee. But healing often happens in safe connection but it's the emphasis on safe. [01:28:03] (54 seconds)  #WeNeedEachOther

See life is like that can be calm one minute and then the next it's chaos. Mother's Day is a bit like that too beautiful for some and it's painful for others but today there's a real invitation to come come home to come home and to love and to stop living like spiritual orphans. When I say spiritual orphans I mean when we momentarily forget who we belong to and who we are. An orphan spirit is living disconnected from our identity as God's beloved child marked by insecurity, self protection, and striving for self worth. A son lives from belonging, not from lack. [01:05:11] (51 seconds)  #YouAreUnique

The mothering heart of God expressed through his people can produce a place to belong. So many people just want to belong. They just want to be part of something. They just want to feel welcome. They just want to feel invited. They want to be seen. Do you see me? Do you see me? Or do you see what you think that you see? Do you really see me? Do you really know me? It's a place to be heard, place to be nurtured, a place to heal, a place to be formed an identity, and a place where shame loses its grip, a place where lies are broken and truth is restored. [01:17:09] (51 seconds)  #StopOrphaningOut

Jesus didn't get his peace from his circumstances, he carried peace because he was anchored in the father. A mother at her best creates safety, nurture, belonging, regulation. Parents had this conversation with my son yesterday. Parents, teach your children how to regulate their emotions. A lot of our pastoral issues and just issues in society have to do with people having never learned how to regulate their emotions and they lash out, kick out, they say things which they should never say or they do things because they can't control the emotion that is overwhelming them in that moment. [01:15:30] (53 seconds)  #CallOutOrphaning

The beautiful thing is Jesus never shamed his disciples for being fearful. He never said, oh, what is wrong with you? Sometimes I feel like saying that. When I see people scared about things and I think, you've been walking with the Lord. During COVID, it was like, are you even saved? But of course, as a pastor, I I I wouldn't ever say that because, you know, we've got to validate people's feelings. Right? And it's important to validate people's feelings and validate people's journey. But sometimes, you know, we forget momentarily. We forget that we are safe, that we are secure. [01:22:07] (51 seconds)  #LiveInYourIdentity

It was only made worse by the fact that there'd been a pattern of loss over years for me. In 1998, Gideon's father passed away. Four years later, my father passed away. Four years later, 2006, my mother passed away. Now we're in 2010. Can you imagine what was going on in my head? Terrified. In that moment, fear started to take hold and I was orphaning out. How do you respond when life is overwhelming and crashing down around your ears? In those moments, do you know whose you are? [01:10:12] (56 seconds)  #BelovedNotOrphan

11/15/2010 will forever be etched in my memory. All four of our children had significant things happen that day, all needing my attention. And our eldest son, David, who was 19, was put on life support. He'd come home a week earlier with hip pain, it was misdiagnosed multiple times over the week, then sepsis, then organ failure. Everything was happening at once, it was really bad. I remember fear rising in me like, you know, like this hot angry rash creeping up my neck as the panic set in. [01:09:24] (47 seconds)  #ListenToGodsVoice

Because life can be like that, it can be we can be just sailing along, having a nice time and then calm conditions and then they it suddenly turns into a dangerous storm. Something happens that's out of our control or maybe it's as a result of things that have been part of our life for a long time but we've managed to bury them and then finally they surface and we can't mask any longer. Things that test us, that threaten us, and take us out of our comfort zones. What if the storm is happening to someone you love? Have you ever encountered that? Some of you might be there right now. [01:08:28] (52 seconds)  #YouAreNotAlone

Maybe you can support people maybe you're exactly what that person needs maybe you're the support and the love and the encouragement that they they need. Don't let your insecurity or your need for acceptance be the thing that prevents you from encouraging and loving on another one. Several people lately have been commenting about noticing the multi generations here at Harmony and it's wonderful but if we're gonna actually retain that as we grow we have to keep reaching out and that means we're gonna have to get over ourselves and we've got to actually step towards another person. [01:25:46] (53 seconds)  #ChooseSonship

One of the things I love about church family is that God never intended us to do life alone. His design from the start was that we'd be in family and in community. Guys, we need one another. Tell your neighbor, I need you. Yeah. And this is a plea. Please don't let your insecurity prevent you from loving on other people. I hear all the time, you know, someone's in need and someone says, oh, they don't they don't want me. I can't help. But maybe you can. [01:24:53] (53 seconds)

It can look like things like you can walk into a room and and two of your friends are talking. Do you immediately think that they're talking about you? I hear this. I hear this a lot. Oh, they're they're talking about me. Probably weren't. Or, you walk into a room. Oh, they're judging me because I don't look as good as them. Or you walk into a room and you think, well, I'm not the smartest person in this room. Where is it that you're often at? Because God wants to remind you, you are loved, you are beautiful, you are special, and he's made you unique. [01:23:52] (51 seconds)

So you could define orphaning out as a number of different things. It could look like reacting from insecurity or fear, which was what I was doing, and adjusted justifiably scary situation, right? Or it could look like striving to be seen, it could look like comparing ourselves, you know, we come into a situation, wow, they're better than I am. Comparison is a thief of joy, guys. Don't just just don't go there. Pulling back when hurt and isolating ourselves, needing constant reassurance or needing to be the center of attention, performing for love, or pushing people away before they can reject you. [01:11:53] (54 seconds)

At the beginning of the year, we had pastor Lynley Allen here and she spoke to our staff and she was talking to us about a phrase that they use which is called, 'orphaning out' and they have given their staff team permission to say to each other when appropriate, hey, I'm orphaning out today or hey, are you orphaning out today? And it's really a way of saying, hey. I need reminding of who I am today, or you need reminding of who you are today. It's not about our circumstances, it's about who we are. [01:11:08] (45 seconds)