Good morning on this Saturday, the 14th of January. Last night our family gathered for a very special event in our clan - Gotcha Day. Gotcha Day is a celebration of the day that we "got" each of our four adopted grandchildren. We usually have a meal together and enjoy the memories and blessings of each of our adopted grand kids. Each of them looks forward to this celebration in their behalf and we make sure they know how special they are to us and all the members of our family. I was thinking today of the meaning of the passage in Romans 8:15, "For you did not receive the bondage again unto fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba Father." Abba Father is expression involving warmth and closeness of a child to his parent. When we receive Christ as our savior, we become a close and special child of the Lord and enjoy a personal relationship with Him. We are a "birthed" into God's family as a born again child of God, but also enjoy a spirit of adoption which according to Romans 8:23 includes the redemption of our body. The Apostle Paul alludes to the first fruits of the Spirit which we enjoy as a kind of down payment of when the Spirit of God fulfills our redemption with our personal resurrection. I am so glad that I have a "Gotcha Day" with Jesus Christ and all that it means. What a day it will be when Christ returns with the sound of the trumpet and a personal shout and we all are caught up to meet the Lord - now that will be quite a "Gotcha Day" won't it?
Tomorrow's sermon is the final message about how to have a godly 2012. I hope you'll be able to attend.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, January 7th. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. We sure did in the Brown household with all of our family being together for a prolonged holiday stay. I enjoyed time with my kids and grandkids which included seeing "Happy Feet 2" and "Kung Fu Panda 2," trips to fun local places, playing games together, and lots of personal conversations. We had 13 in our house much of the time and I think everyone had a good time. It was so much fun watching the little ones filled with such anticipation and glee as they opened their Christmas presents. My daughters arrived early this year to help Barb prepare our annual Christmas buffet on Christmas Eve and we had a lovely Christmas dinner on Christmas day. Cheryl and Tim had to return to Chicago to see patients and clients respectively, then returned to our house in time for New Years, but the grand kids stayed with us during the whole time. There is nothing like spending quality time with the people we love. But to be truthful it is also a blessing when things get back to normal without wall-to- wall people. From the time our first grandchild arrived, Barb and I vowed that we would try to ensure that we would spend time with our away grandchildren at least once a month and our local ones as often as possible. We have generally been able to fulfill that vow and are so pleased to have had the opportunity to play a large role in the lives of our grand kids. Scripture places a premium of importance on the role of grandparents in children's lives. The Bible regularly talks about our children and children's children. In Biblical days extended families (children, parents, and grandparents) frequently lived in the same house and regularly interacted with each other. Grandparents had significant influence on their grandchildren and their gray hair (representing age, wisdom, and life experience) was considered to be a source of honor. Here are some suggestions for being an influential grandparent.
(1) Be a godly spiritual example to your grandchildren
(2) Spend quality time with them
(3) Use teachable moments to impart character and wisdom to them
(4) Discuss and apply Biblical lessons to them whenever possible
(5) Love them unconditionally (let them know that you always love them even if you don't approve their behavior)
(6) Enjoy them - they will be grown before you know it
Tomorrow's sermon is about how to have a godly 2012; please plan on attending.
Mel Brown