HOPE AT THE MOVIES // Despicable Me and Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday

• Orphan Sunday is celebrated once a year to remind us of God’s heart for the orphan. Fatherless children were penniless and essentially non-people.
• James 1:27 (NLT) | Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

Problems in Our World

• We recognize that the world is corrupting. Vulnerable children are especially impressionable. Survival skills and defense mechanisms are developed that can make it difficult for people to relate well with others. Jesus came to help us all see that spiritually we are orphans, trying to make our way in the world.
• John 1:10-13 (NLT) | [Jesus] came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

Children of God

• Jesus promised the disciples as He was preparing to leave that they would not be left without a spiritual connection to their forever family. As we saw in John 1, Jesus gave us the right to be called children of God.
• John 14:18 (NLT) | No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.

Abba, Daddy

• Our place in God’s forever family is secure. As a result, we can call on God like a child does with the familiar intimacy of a child referring to his or her father as, “daddy.”
• Romans 8:15 (NLT) | So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

Take-Aways

• Accept God’s Love
• Believe that Jesus came to save you Confess your need for a Savior
• Dedicate your life to sharing God

Reflection Questions

1. Why do we need to celebrate Orphan Sunday?
2. What problems in the world do you face that are corruptible for you? What defense mechanisms and/or survival skills have you developed to cope with them?
3. What does it mean for you to be known as a child of God?
4. What kind of relationship does God want with you? Standoffish? Close?
5. How can we see the power of transformation in the clip we viewed from Despicable Me? Are you more like Gru or one of the children?