Part
three of our series on the Bible explored one of the most (if not the most)
important theme of our scripture: Sin.
Sin can
be defined many ways, but is most simply put as "anything that distracts,
discourages us from or pulls us away from God."
This
means that even good things could be sinful if we hold them above God and
consider them more important than God.
In the
Bible, we find this pattern over and over again:
Sin –> Repentence –> Forgiveness –> New Life.
Sin
is part of our human nature. We want it our way. We have a 'bent to
sinning' that John Wesley wrote about in the famous church hymn: "Love
Divine All Loves Excelling."
God
gives us the opportunity to repent, which allows the full force of God's
Forgiveness to come into our lives, offering us new life.
The
12-step tradition has this as their first step to recovery:
We admitted we were powerless over
our addiction,
that our lives had become
unmanageable.
And so we all need to say:
"Hi, I'm Terry.
I'm a Recovering Sinner."
And follow that up by saying that we are relying on a higher
power, the power of God through Jesus Christ.
This kind of repentance, honest and deep sharing of our darkest
corners and crevices of our hearts allows God to heal us and make us
whole. Giving us a new life to
live and an eternity to live it in.
Our church fellowship is a place where such
"U-Turns" are not only allowed, but encouraged.
3rd
Week Homework:
1) Read the Beatitudes: Matt. 5
(and perhaps Matt 5-7 too.)
2) Read Psalm 51 (or 59)
3) Question to ask of yourself:
"How could you be more like God wants you
to be today?"
4) Questions on card will be
collected next week.
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