Sin Liveth In Me!

Hebrews 10:14-18; Romans 7:14-25; I do not do what I want to do for sin lives in me. Yet, it is by Christ's sacrifice on the cross that I am forgiven my sin.

Hated For Christ's Sake

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. (Luke 6:22 KJV)

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18)

It is sad but true that those who proclaim the truth will have enemies. They will be declared false prophets. Their names will cast out as evil from even the assembly of God's children. 

Rejoice then all who are hated for Christ's sake! For Jesus declares you blessed if you are hated for his sake. Continue in the truth because although there are many who reject the truth there are also those who will receive it.

May the Lord bless and keep you! (Num 6:24)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Be Kind

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Eph 4:32 KJV)

It really doesn't take that much to be kind and to help ease the burden of others. Or, we can be unkind and add to their burdens. 

We have no clue what other people may be going through; what challenges they face each day. If we find that our attitudes are such that we cannot be kind; then walk away; stay home. Do whatever you must; but, how we treat others is on us.

There is sp much to be thankful for. Do a mental or a written list of all the things you have to be thankful for when you find that you feel the urge to snap at others. Life can be hard for everyone. It's not up to us to make it worse for others. It is up to us to be there for them to ease their burdens. And, if we can't due to our sinful natures then we should stay away until we can.

Every now and then some preacher or teacher will ask the congregation or class to share what they are thankful for. To tell you the truth, when I am asked that question, I usually don't respond. That's not because I don't find anything to be thankful for; but, because the list of things that I am thankful for each day is so overwhelming I do not know where to begin.

But, first and foremost, we thank God for the love that he has for us.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 

                                                                      (Rom 5:8-11)

Because he first loved us, we love him and ought to love; we ought to be kind to one another, as well.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (John 13:34)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Keep Awake - Be Prepared!

"Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”  (Mark 13:35-37 NRSV)

Keep awake! No matter what day or hour it is, be prepared. When I was a child, I remember, certain people I knew use to make fun of people of a certain denomination because they would go out drinking and carousing on one evening and then go to confession the next day. They thought it quite strange that people should think that they can go and do things they knew full well they'd be repenting of the next day. The weird thing about it was that the same people who pointed fingers at those making confession actually were out carousing with them; but, they didn't go to confession. 

Doing things that we know we are going to repenting of probably is not a very good idea. It's just not a good idea to be thinking we can manipulate God. Jesus certainly died for our sins; but, does that make it right that we should continue to do those things we know we should not do with the understanding that we can be forgiven? Was Christ's sacrifice worth so little? 

Besides, how do you know that the hour will not come for you to stand before the throne of God while you are in the midst of purposely doing what you know you ought not be doing? 

Keep awake - be prepared! Do not let our Lord return and find you on a path that you should not be following.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Bearing Christ's Name

Some of Christ Lutheran's Worship Team That Ministers to

residents at Princeton Senior Living, Palm Coast, FL

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:45-48 NIV)

Those first disciples were witnesses. We, too, are witnesses. We must have seen or heard or experienced something in order to bear the name of Christ. What was it? Surely, you do not call yourself Christian because you belong to a specific earthly congregation. There is more to being a Christian than being on someone's membership rolls. As one of my friends use to remind her congregation, "Sitting in a garage doesn't make you a car anymore than sitting in a church makes you a Christian."

Christian's bear the name of Christ and we are to bear it to the entire world. We are to proclaim, in Christ's name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to all nations; to all people. Now, repentance does not mean simply apologizing. It means change. It means turning around and doing things in a way that will reflect the love of God for all people. It means, even as Christ put others before himself, even his own life; we are to put the needs of others before our own desires. We are to set aside our own desires so that the will of God may be done.

We do not bear the name of Christ for our sakes alone. We ought not hide our faith for a hidden faith is no faith at all. Our faith may be personal; but, it cannot be private. We are to proclaim the mighty works of God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, to all the world, for as Christians, we are witnesses to the great love that God has for all people.

May God help us to be more faithful witnesses to all that He has done for us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J