Last week, I had the privilege of attending CAFO (Christian Alliance for Orphans). I’ve been to many conferences and heard countless sermons, but this one hit different. The message was about the paralytic man—the one whose friends carried him to Jesus. I’ve read that story, preached it, and admired those four friends who refused to let anything stand between their friend and Jesus. But this time, God showed me something new.
Those four friends needed Jesus just as much as the man on the mat.
That realization sank deep. Because it reframed how I see adoption—not just as something we do for a child, but as something God does in all of us. Adoption is not a one-way act of compassion; it’s a two-way act of transformation. The child, the mom and dad, the extended family, the church—everyone in the story needs grace. Everyone in the story is being changed by Jesus.
We often think of serving or adopting as meeting someone else’s need. But what if, in God’s design, it’s also about meeting ours? What if every time we open our home, our hands, or our hearts, God is opening something in us too? Adoption is more than an earthly act—it’s a heavenly picture. It reflects the gospel itself.
Because that’s what God did for us. He didn’t wait for us to get up and walk. He came to us when we couldn’t move. He lifted us off the mat of our own sin and carried us home. That’s adoption. Not just bringing someone in—it’s being brought in ourselves.
I want to take a moment to thank Choice Baptist for being part of this story. You’ve adopted us as your own—covering us with prayer, encouragement, and generosity. You’ve carried us in ways that look a lot like those four friends in Mark 2. But maybe—just maybe—God is also using our story to stir something in yours.
Maybe He’s stirring you to step toward fostering or adoption—to open your home to a child who needs a family.
Maybe He’s stirring you to support a family already walking that road—offering meals, babysitting, or just being present in the hard moments.
Maybe He’s stirring you to give financially toward missions, orphan care, or the work of ministries who live this calling every day.
Maybe He’s stirring you to simply see people differently—to notice the overlooked, to invite the outsider, to become family to someone who has none.
Adoption is God’s heart in motion. It’s His Kingdom breaking through in living rooms, church pews, and hospital waiting rooms. It’s what happens when ordinary people step into the extraordinary love of a Father who calls us His own.
So, whether you’re carrying someone to Jesus or being carried yourself—remember this: both need Him. Both are being changed. And both are part of the story God is still writing.
“God sets the lonely in families.” – Psalm 68:6
Pastor Bradley J. Balfour
John 3:30 - He must become greater and greater; and I must become less and less.
Those four friends needed Jesus just as much as the man on the mat.
That realization sank deep. Because it reframed how I see adoption—not just as something we do for a child, but as something God does in all of us. Adoption is not a one-way act of compassion; it’s a two-way act of transformation. The child, the mom and dad, the extended family, the church—everyone in the story needs grace. Everyone in the story is being changed by Jesus.
We often think of serving or adopting as meeting someone else’s need. But what if, in God’s design, it’s also about meeting ours? What if every time we open our home, our hands, or our hearts, God is opening something in us too? Adoption is more than an earthly act—it’s a heavenly picture. It reflects the gospel itself.
Because that’s what God did for us. He didn’t wait for us to get up and walk. He came to us when we couldn’t move. He lifted us off the mat of our own sin and carried us home. That’s adoption. Not just bringing someone in—it’s being brought in ourselves.
I want to take a moment to thank Choice Baptist for being part of this story. You’ve adopted us as your own—covering us with prayer, encouragement, and generosity. You’ve carried us in ways that look a lot like those four friends in Mark 2. But maybe—just maybe—God is also using our story to stir something in yours.
Maybe He’s stirring you to step toward fostering or adoption—to open your home to a child who needs a family.
Maybe He’s stirring you to support a family already walking that road—offering meals, babysitting, or just being present in the hard moments.
Maybe He’s stirring you to give financially toward missions, orphan care, or the work of ministries who live this calling every day.
Maybe He’s stirring you to simply see people differently—to notice the overlooked, to invite the outsider, to become family to someone who has none.
Adoption is God’s heart in motion. It’s His Kingdom breaking through in living rooms, church pews, and hospital waiting rooms. It’s what happens when ordinary people step into the extraordinary love of a Father who calls us His own.
So, whether you’re carrying someone to Jesus or being carried yourself—remember this: both need Him. Both are being changed. And both are part of the story God is still writing.
“God sets the lonely in families.” – Psalm 68:6
Pastor Bradley J. Balfour
John 3:30 - He must become greater and greater; and I must become less and less.
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