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| Have you checked out the RFL Forum yet? For updated posts and comments, be sure to JOIN A GROUP!!! Please e-mail jrichard@lutheransforlife.org for assistance. | |
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We have joined in ministry with Churches For Life(CFL) to offer comprehensive, Gospel focused training for our RFL congregations. If your congregation’s Life Advocate (team) is interested in having more in-depth training, mentoring and guidance, call the Life Center for more information. |
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2011 LFL National Conference Update The conference is always edifying and uplifting, and reports indicate this one was no exception. So I thank you for helping make this possible. Even if you were there—as some of you were—it is good to have this as a review. Share it with others. Put it in your church newsletter.
In her welcoming address to conference attendees, President Diane Schroeder said, “Our job as the Church and For Life Christians is to make sure that our Lutheran men and women never need to walk into CareNet [pregnancy center]. Not that they will never make mistakes because we all do, but because they know that for them abortion is never an option … Our people need to know that there is a way to handle these difficult situations that is pleasing to God. It is so important that the Church talk about these issues. If our people do not hear this message of truth and compassion from their church, they are vulnerable to the voice of the culture that says death is the answer to life’s unpleasant situations.” Dr. Russell D. Moore, author of Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families, said in his Friday night keynote address, “If we as pro-life people can understand that the issue of orphan care—whether that’s advocating for unborn orphans, or advocating for born orphans in the United States or around the world—is not simply stopping bad things from happening to children … Instead, there is also a deeper issue here, which is that our advocacy for women and children who are under assault by forces so dark and evil that we cannot even contemplate it, can teach us and show us how to be the Church, how to embrace the Gospel, how to live in the unity of the Spirit—and we see something of what this looks like by what the Spirit is doing in the life of Joseph … “The Scripture says that when someone is adopted into the family of God, he or she is not some other kind of child. This person is now seated at the table with all the relationship to the Father … with all of the inheritance that is received in Jesus Christ. We see that first in the life of our Lord Himself when Joseph really and truly becomes His father through adoption. When we care for orphans, through adoption and foster care, and through other kinds of ministries to orphans, when we advocate for children whose lives are in jeopardy through abortion and through other ways, what we are recognizing is that we are doing so as ex-orphans ourselves who have been rescued through the Gospel. And we are also recognizing that when a child is adopted into a family there is a real family formed there. Our entire Gospel is at stake in that recognition because there is no such thing as an ‘adopted child,’ only children who were adopted. Adopted in the New Testament is a past-tense verb, not an adjective.” Saturday morning included the showing of the award-winning film, Bella, followed by a plenary session with Dr. Kurt Senske on The Lessons of “Bella” – Affirming Life Via Our Own Personal Calling. Workshops, led by Jean Amundson with a panel of family members, and Jeannette Clausen, on Adoption: Not First Choice, but a Choice of Love, focused on different aspects of adoption. Col. John Eidsome discussed Preachers and Politics: What Does the IRS Allow? Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb explored In Vitro Fertilization—Promise or Peril? And Dr. Kurt Senske lead a workshop on A Picture of Possibilities—Strategies to Live Out Our Calling. Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb, LFL executive director, in his opening worship sermon, focused on the conference theme, based on Galatians 4:4-5. “Adopted in Christ—it is this relationship of having a God we can call Father, that moves us to be obedient to our Father who is God. Adopted in Christ—it is this relationship of having a God we can call Father that moves us not to just be against what our culture of death is for, but to be for what our Father who is God is for. That’s what is being expressed in LFL’s mission statement, ‘Equipping Lutherans to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life’ … The relationship that God, who is our Father, established in Christ through adoption motivates us to be bold voices in the life arena. Neither our successes nor failures as His voices For Life have anything to do with attaining or maintaining our relationship with God as His children. He has taken care of that. We live in the midst of our victories in the For Life arena, in the midst of our defeats, in the midst of our frustrations assured of His love, His forgiveness, and eternal life … God adopted you in Christ. You have a God who is your father. That is the assurance of His love for you.” The 2012 Lutherans For Life National Conference has been set for August 3-4 at the Eaglewood Resort and Spa, Itasca, Illinois (Chicago area), under the theme Equipping the Saints For Life.
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Adoption Category Resources Audio/Visual: Christian Alliance for Orphans has a number of webinars and videos on how your congregation can become an advocate for adoption and orphan care. Click on the Christian Alliance for Orphans title on the audio visual page. Bible Studies: Waiting Eagerly, by Rev. David Renfro is a great tool to use to inform your congregation about the importance of the adoption option, and the Churche’s responsibility is in this area. This Bible study will help you know how to respond when adoption is questioned. From birth parents, to adopted children and adoptive parents, we need to have the knowledge and resources to help when needed. Essays and Articles: In conjunction with the Waiting Eagerly Bible study, in the Essays and Articles section of the Adoption category, the Adoption FAQ’s article is a resource that helps answer questions about adoption that frequently arise, written by Jeannette Clausen (quoted below), Director of Pregnancy Counseling and Adoptions at Lutheran Family Services.
“A conversation about adoption may evoke a wide variety of strong feelings—a mix of happiness and joy along with pain, fear and grief. Through this format of questions and answers, I hope to give insight and increase understanding of the adoption process, which joins families together forever!”
Worship Resources: A Triangle of Love, is a sermon by pastor Greg Schram based on Matthew 18:1-14.
Brochures: LFL has a number of booklets and brochures on adoption. Find out more and order from CPH.
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| More resources on the RFL site:
C.A.S.E. (Countering Abortion Slogans Effectively) Studies in the Audio/Visual section of the Abortion section. The C.A.S.E. studies are short videos that examine various abortion slogans and how the life-affirming message should be defended. Volume 1 examines the idea that a woman “has a right” to an abortion; Volume 2 examines the slogan “every child a wanted child.” |
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One-Cent Sale on Selected Life Sunday and Just For Kids Bulletin Inserts!
Our remaining stock of selected Life Sunday and Just For Kids inserts are on sale! Stock up now and save―and share the For Life message all year long! The Just For Kids inserts are a great way to share the For Life message with children. They are a great resource for Sunday school, VBS, children’s coloring bags, and more! |
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Life Sunday Bulletin Insert Sale
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Just For Kids Bulletin Insert Sale |
| Click on the links above or go to www.cph.org. | |
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50% Off on LFL Promotional Products!
All of our remaining stock of promotional products are on sale at 50% off! Order today and share at local fairs, events, VBS, and Sunday school! Quantities are limited.
PENS (“God Loves Life”) – This popular and comfortable tri-sided pen has different Lutherans For Life information on each of the three sides including “God Loves Life – John 3:16.” This pen will never roll off the table! Black ink, medium point, blue translucent coloring, black ergonomic grippers, metal tip. STICKERS – Sorry, stickers are sold out. LFL LOGO PIN – Simple design on blue enamel. TOTE BAGS (Plastic) 11″ x 15″ – Great for fairs and conventions. BALLOONS (9″) Sorry, balloons are sold out.
Click on the links above or go to www.cph.org. |
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Life Quotes and Life Thoughts can also be found on the Home page in the Renewal For Life library.
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