We Just Said Yes

In one paragraph

Glenn Owings, a long-time member of First Baptist Jackson, shared his family's adoption story as a way of talking about what it looks like to say yes to God when He calls you to something hard. Pastor Ray and Carl were away on a trip, so Glenn stepped in with a message that was more personal testimony than formal sermon. The thread running through everything was the passage from James about faith...

Read together

1. James 1:12-13 God blesses those who patiently endure testing; God never tempts anyone
2. James 1:14-15 temptation comes from our own desires, giving birth to sin and death
3. James 1:22-25 do not just listen to God's word but do what it says; mirror illustration
4. James 1:26-27 pure religion means caring for orphans and widows and refusing worldly corruption
5. James 1:2-4 when troubles come consider it an opportunity for joy; faith tested grows endurance
6. Philippians 3 Paul considers his earthly credentials worthless because of what Christ has done
7. Ephesians 1:5-6 God decided in advance to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ, to his great pleasure and glory

Talk about it

1. Glenn described the early years of his marriage as a season of genuinely wanting to do whatever God wanted, and said that posture set the direction for everything that followed. What has it looked like in your own life when you have been most open to God's leading, and what conditions seem to make that easier or harder?
2. When the first adoption agency went bankrupt, Glenn said it was a gut-check moment of wondering whether the whole thing was a sign from God to stop. Have you ever hit a setback in something you believed God called you to, and how did you decide whether to keep going or change course?
3. Glenn talked about the painful process of checking boxes on a form to indicate which medical conditions you could or could not take on, knowing each unchecked box represented real children. How do you sit with the tension between your real, legitimate limitations and the needs you cannot meet?
4. Glenn said the family made the income cutoff by fifty-six dollars, and that throughout the process God kept sending specific people alongside them to hold them up when they were weak. When have you seen God provide through other people in a way that was almost uncomfortably precise, and what did that do to your faith?
5. Near the end of the sermon Glenn said saying yes to God looks different for everyone, and listed examples from accepting Jesus as Lord all the way to reaching out to a struggling neighbor. What is something God has been placing on your heart, maybe even for years, that you have not yet said yes to, and what is the honest reason you have held back?