Sunday was a message about dealing with the pain of infertility looking at the story of Rachel in the Bible. In the message we talked about issues such as infertility, IVF, surrogacy, foster-parenting and adoption. This was the next message in the Famous Mothers in the Bible series. The message was called Rachel – The Desperate Mother, taken from Genesis 30:1-24 and Genesis 35:16-20. Here is a brief outline of the message:

Dealing with the pain of infertility:

I. Be careful not to blame each other (Genesis 30:1-2)
   A. Anger and blame will only harm your relationship
      – Genesis 3:12; Psalm 37:8
   B. Bring your deepest hurts and desires to God
      – Psalm 62:8; Proverbs 30:15-16

II. Be careful with your options (Genesis 30:3-13)
   A. Be cautious with modern technologies (IVF, surrogacy, etc.)
      – Psalm 139:13-14
   B. Be open to fostering or adoption
      – Psalm 68:5-6; Ephesians 1:5; James 1:27

III. Be careful not to compromise (Genesis 30:14-21)
   A. God takes the sexual relationship very seriously
      – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6
   B. Know there can be long-term consequences to your actions
      – Galatians 6:7-8

IV. Trust God’s timing and plan (Genesis 30:22-24, 35:16-20)
   A. Trust God to provide for your family in his way and in his time
      – Philippians 4:19
   B. Every child is a precious gift from God
      – Matthew 18:10

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.