Forgiven Much

St. Paul was forgiven much and so are we

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

                                                     (1 Corinthians 15:1-10 KJV)

By the grace of God I am what I am. By the grace of God we are what we are. We have not loved God with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have sinned against all. Yet, we  are saint. We are children of our heavenly Father. We have been cleansed of our sin through and by faith alone through by the blood of Jesus the Christ!

Paul declared himself a horrible sinner; a persecutor of the church of God. Although, he was the least, after meeting Jesus on the road after  Jesus' ascension, he became most ardent in proclaiming Jesus as the one who died in declaring that Jesus' died for our sins and that he rose again from the dead for us.

There is not one of us who is without sin. No matter how hard we try we cannot save ourselves by any good works so we turn to the only one who can and has saved us. We turn to our loving savior Jesus in faith. We turn to the one who saved us by his work on the cross for us.

Do not let your sin overwhelm you. Repent and believe that your sins have been washed away for in Christ you have indeed been cleansed.  You have been forgiven!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Feed Them

And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

And they did all eat, and were filled.

                                                                                                         (Mark 6:33-42 KJV)

Multitudes followed Jesus out into the desert to hear him speak. So he fed them with the word. They were listening to him for so long that he knew that they not only needed to be fed spiritually with the word but that they also needed to be fed physically. 

The disciples were reluctant to feed them even as so many pastors and congregations are often wary about feeding people who knock on their church doors. They are wary for many reasons. Maybe the visitor will use the financial assistance they are given for alcohol or drugs. Maybe they are just con men or women who make their only living by knocking on church doors. Maybe that person knocking on our church door is here to attack the secretary or maybe even the whole congregation or set fire to the church. But, Jesus, the Good Shepherd,  did not question the multitudes need to eat. He told the disciples to feed them. That ought to remind us that we too are to feed the hungry both spiritually and physically. After all, if someone is starving for sustenance for their bodies they will more than likely be focused on their stomach and not able to hear Good News of eternal life in God's Kingdom; his presence, that we would share with them. 

How good is the Good News if we ignore the fact that those we preach to go without food for physical survival?

God help us to feed your sheep!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Praying Often; Always

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. (Matt 14:19 KJV)

Most of you have probably heard the story about how Jesus fed the multitude on five loaves and two fish. They were so fed heartily with this meager meal, after Jesus prayed over the the food and the disciples shared it with the people, that there were leftovers. 

We are encouraged to pray and give thanks to the Lord not just on Sunday but always for everything and everyone. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thess 5:16-18)

The other evening after shopping my husband and I stopped to eat at "Steak and Shake," an almost fast food hamburger restaurant. Service is really quick; but, you actually get a friendly server and a few minutes to look at the menu. While waiting for our meal, I saw something that I don't get to see too often. It was a family of five (with at least two teens) holding hands and praying before they ate. There were no cell phones at the table.  What there was after they prayed was quiet conversation as they ate. I don't get to see many people praying publicly so it caught my attention. I pray that God blesses every member of that family with faithfulness all the days of their lives. Those young people are off to a good start...

May God help us all to remember to pray often, even unceasingly, giving thanks for all that He has done and continues to do for us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Do Not Fear; Your Father Is With You

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7 NIV)

At times it feels like we are all alone with no one where to turn. The "not knowing what to do next" can cause a lot of anxiety. Thoughts of what might happen to us and to the people that we love run rampant through our minds causing our hearts to leap in fear. 

When we get in these tight spots it is good to recall the words of Jesus, "Don't be afraid." Indeed, God loves you. He loves you so much that He knows everything single thing about you. He even knows how many hairs that you have on your head; even how many you have lost today. He values your life and will be with you to guide you in all of your ways. Trust Him and follow wherever he leads you through good times and hard times. Do not fear. Trust that your Father in Heaven has a good plan; the best plan for you. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.