April 30

Matthew 18

"Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times."

Forgiveness is not easy. To offer forgiveness to someone seven times seems very generous. However, what Jesus teaches is extraordinary generosity. He's reply to Peter's question is "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." He teaches that we are not to even keep track of how often we forgive. We are to just keep forgiving.

April 29

Matthew 6:9-15

This is the Lord's prayer. Notice that we have added a closing section to what Jesus taught.

A part of the Lord's prayer involves asking for G0d's forgiveness. The teaching that follows the prayer is incredibly powerful. In it Jesus says that as we forgive others, that is the manner in which God will forgive us. This is a hard teaching. I don't think he is teaching that we earn forgiveness. I think what he is teaching is that one of the signs that we have experienced forgiveness, is our willingness to forgive others. If we are unwilling to forgive others, it is most likely because we have not experienced forgiveness ourselves.

April 28

1 John 2

"I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name."

Scripture is clear on this point. There is no doubt. We are forgiven because of the action of God. Forgiveness is a gift. We do not earn it, we do not deserve it. Forgiveness is a gift. For the gift to become ours, we have to receive the gift of forgiveness. Therefore, I am not called to forgive myself for the wrong I have done. I am invited to receive the gift of forgiveness that God wants to give me.

April 27

1 John 1

God invites us to live in the light. Part of what it means to live in the light is to be willing to acknowledge our sin. We don't like to acknowledge our sin. To acknowledge our sin is to take responsibility for our actions. It is much easier to justify what we have done or to blame others than it is to accept responsibility. Yet, to accept responsibility is the only way to bring about change in life. What John promises is that as "we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive". The forgiveness of God offers a new beginning.

April 26

Colossians 3

In the first part of this chapter Paul is discussing the struggle between our earthly nature and how God calls us to live. He calls us to "put to death" many of our actions and practices that are common on earth. He then challenges us to clothe ourselves with the practices of "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience". As a part of this thought in verse 13 he writes, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." As God has forgiven us, he wants us to offer the same forgiveness to others. Forgiveness is one of the acts of God that Paul wants us to clothe ourselves. The question for today is, who do you need to forgive?

April 24

Genesis 44-45

Verse one says, "Joseph could no longer contain himself". Joseph's secret is too much so he finally reveals who he is. A celebration of tears begins. Pharaoh even celebrates with Joseph and invites his family to live in Egypt.

Forgiveness can be very difficult. Joseph's brothers caused him incredible pain. But the moment he forgave his brothers, that act of forgiveness opened his life in new ways. God calls us to forgive because of how it opens up the opportunity for reconciliation. I believe God also calls us to forgiveness for how it opens our lives up for healing.

April 23

Genesis 43

Why doesn't Joseph tell them who he is? What is he gaining by holding back? Is the pain of being sold into slavery so deep in his life that he cannot forgive them yet? It seems to me that he is missing out on life and on his relationship with his family by holding back. He is harming himself much more than he is harming them. But isn't that the way it is when we don't forgive? When we don't forgive, we are the ones that are hurt the most.

April 22

Genesis 42

I can't imagine the flood of emotions Joseph felt when he first saw his brothers. But as the story unfolds we begin to see some of those emotions. He treats them harshly. He weeps at hearing them speak about what they did to him. I wonder why he did not reveal to them who he was? Maybe he didn't because he had not decided how he was going to treat them.

I believe we see in Joseph the struggle of forgiving someone who has harmed us deeply. When we have been harmed, it is difficult to forgive.

4/21 - Genesis 41

Genesis 41

I don't believe God inspired his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery. I don't believe God inspired Potipher's wife to attempt to have an affair with Joseph. I don't believe that God caused the cup bearer to forget his promise to Joseph. What I do believe is that God can bring good out of everything (Romans 8:28). I believe that God used a series of events that included sin and forgetfulness to put Joseph in the right position at the right moment. It may have seemed to Joseph that his life was wasting away as he sat for 2 years in prison, but God was at work in the dreams of Pharaoh. The dreams brought a crisis that only Joseph could solve. Joseph ended up in the position of the second most powerful man of Egypt. Why, because God was always at work in his life bringing about good, as God is always working in our lives to bring about good. It may takes years to see, but God is working.

April 20

Genesis 39-40

There are moments in life when we have done what is right, but disaster still strikes. Joseph could have given into Potiphar's wife. He could have justified it for many reasons. Instead, he stood for what he believed was right. The consequence of his action was prison. Being thrown in prison wasn't fair. He deserved better. Ultimately life takes a good turn for him, but he does not know that when he is prison.

There are times in our lives when we might do what is right and still suffer. The hope that we have is that God is always with us. As God was working for Joseph, our hope is that God is working for us. Faith calls us to have this hope no matter the situation we face.

April 19

Genesis 37

This is a story of a father spoiling a child, the child not having discretion in what he speaks to his brothers and the brothers hating him. The end result is the brothers sell him into slavery and the father's heart is broken as he believes his beloved son is dead. Is there anything good about how this story begins?

There are times when it seems our lives have come apart. We can not envision a future. The hope we have is that God is with us. The hope we have is that somehow God can bring good out of any situation.

April 17 (Saturday)

I am going out of town today, so I am going ahead and posting the passage for Saturday.

John 8

I'm just going to focus on a couple aspects of this chapter, there are so many different things that can be considered.

First, Jesus 'frees' a woman caught committing adultery. The Pharisees brought her as a way to test Jesus, to see how He would respond. The Pharisees thought they had Jesus in a trap, that whichever way He answered, He could be charged. Jesus was one step ahead of them, though. He turns the question on them and asks them to consider their own sins and their own wrongdoings. After looking within themselves, none of them could press charge against the woman. I think this teaches us that Jesus will be there for us, as long as we believe. If we come to Him openly, He will always offer us forgiveness and freedom.

Secondly, Jesus tells us that "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." He is not suggesting that we are held captive by a person, but rather by our own sin. In order to be freed from this slavery we must turn and confess to God.

-Jenni

April 16

Psalm 38

"My guilt has overwhelm me, like a burden too heavy to bear"

When we recognize and acknowledge our sins, it can often seem like it is too much to handle-'like a burden too heavy to bear.' In this passage, the psalmist draws a connection between the pain and troubles felt and the sins committed. I think this psalm describes all of the power that our sin can hold over us. It causes not only physical distress, but emotional as well. The psalmist feels alone and abandoned in his time of need, as his his friends will not come near him. The first part of the psalm is kind of difficult to read, I know I don't want to acknowledge that sin holds that much power of me, but the truth is it does. The end of the psalm, though, provides hope. The last verses of the psalm place hope solely on God, for He is the only one who can take away the pain felt by our iniquities.

-Jenni

April 15

Psalm 32

I think this passage shows the true character and mercy of the Lord. Here God is being praised for His love and His gift of forgiveness. He is responsible for taking away to burden of guilt. "Bones wasted away," "strength was sapped." I know I have felt the weight of guilt, it is literally something that we carry on our bodies. The only way to alleviate the pain and remove the burden is to ask God for forgiveness, to be blessed with His grace and mercy. The great thing about this is that the offer is always available, all we have to do is ask.

-Jenni

April 13

Psalm 6

"The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer."

I can just see and hear the agony that David carries as he writes this psalm. He seems helpless, like he can't find the strength to do anything until he is washed of his sin. He is begging the Lord to have pity on him, begging the Lord not to be angry or cast punishment.
I think it is hard to ask for forgiveness, it's very humbling, and feeling humbled is not always what we want to feel. The pleading in this psalm is extreme-what all is weighing him down? What if instead of letting things pile up and reach this point of anguish, we ask for forgiveness often-daily. The great thing about God though, is He doesn't care when we come to Him-He will always accept our prayer.

-Jenni

April 13

2 Samuel 12

This passage is very interesting to me. David is so quick to see the fault in what the rich man of the story did, yet so slow to see his own wrongdoing. I think about how quick I am to notice what other people do wrong; to notice and judge and cast punishment as David did. It's easy to admit the fault of others, it's very difficult to admit the fault of our own. David had to pay for what he did, his son died. I find it reassuring to know that despite his sins, after turning to God to worship-David continued to be blessed. I think this passage can be used as an example for our own lives. Despite what we have done or how we have sinned, if we go to God and ask for forgiveness, He will grant it. The hard part of it all is that we have to acknowledge and admit that we have sinned.

-Jenni

April 12

2 Samuel 11

This is a well known passage of the Bible, one that is taught in Sunday School from an early age. Although I know the story, I am challenged to think about it in a different way-in the context of forgiveness.
David must obviously feel some remorse for what he did, because he tries to have Uriah lie with Bathsheba to try and cover up what he has done. Uriah, being a man of God, does not, though. Multiple times David tries to trick Uriah into being with his wife, but he always fails. What if David had confessed? Would Uriah have forgiven him? He was a man of God.
The other thing that struck me in this passage is how quickly David forgave Joab. Joab suspected that the king might be upset about how the fighting went, but he wasn't. Instead, he was preoccupied with the fact that Uriah was dead.
I think that David had a lot of guilt about what he had done. Why else would he go to such lengths to "fix" it? What if he had come clean? What if he had confessed and asked for forgiveness?
How often in my life do I try to cover up what I do? How often does guilt overwhelm me that it consumes my thinking and dictates my actions? Did David really think that by killing Uriah he could rid himself of what he had done?
I don't think that trying to fix our guilt through coverups will make us feel better. For me, I always feel more at peace when I put things out in the open, as hard as that may be. By asking for forgiveness from God, others, and ourselves, it does not mean that consequences are eliminated, I think it means that we are laying down a burden so that we can continue to live our lives.

-Jenni

April 10

John 21

Jesus has the conversation with Peter, a which at the end indicates Peter's death. When they see the other disciple behind them, most likely John, Peter asks "what about him?" Part of Jesus' response is "what is this to you?" What I take from this conversation is that I am to focus on how Jesus calls me. I can celebrate and give thanks for how Jesus calls you, but I am not to be concerned if your calling is different than mine. I am to trust God in how God works in and through each of our lives.

April 9

April 8

Luke 24:36-52

Luke makes it clear that the disciples did not believe that Jesus was going to rise from the dead. They even struggle to believe when they see him. Luke tells us Jesus invites them touch him and he eats a piece of fish. He is having to prove to them that he is alive.

Our expectations shape our lives. The disciples knew that he had experienced a brutal death. They had no expectation of the resurrection. Their expectations made it almost impossible to see the truth. What about your expectations? Do you expect to see God? Do you expect God to move in your life? We tend to experience what we expect.

April 7

Luke 24:1-35

In my sermon on Sunday, I mentioned how each the resurrection stories in the four gospels were somewhat different. In Luke, we find some rather dramatic differences from Matthew. There are 2 angels instead of 1, no one encountered the risen Lord at the grave, Peter is part of story, there is mention of the linen clothes inside the tomb, and the addition of Jesus appearance on the road to Emmaus. The two elements that remain the same through every story are that Jesus has risen and the disciples had no expectation of his resurrection.

Through Peter's "wondering to himself what had happened" as he left the grave and the disciples not recognizing Jesus on the road, we can see that they are not looking for a risen lord.

One of the questions that arises for me is, how often do I miss the risen Lord? How often is God moving in my life or in the lives of those around me and because I have no expectation of seeing God, I miss what God is doing?

April 6

4/6 - Mark 16

There is an interesting footnote in your bible after verse 8. It should say something about many ancient manuscripts do not include Mark 16:9-20. Some ancient manuscripts end at verse 8. There are a variety of reasons this could have happened but what I want you to consider is what if the gospel ended at verse 8? What if it ended with woman "trembling and bewildered"? What if it ended with them saying nothing because of their fear?

April 5

Matthew 28

Matthew closes with a section, verses 16-20, that is called the "Great Commission". The Great Commission is the task that Jesus gives to the disciples. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." As Christians we understand that the commission was not only given to the disciples but to us. This is what the risen Lord wants us to do.

April 3

Matthew 28

There are no witnesses to the moment of the resurrection. There is no explanation of how it happened. The woman arrive and they are simply told. They are stunned by the news. They have not expected his resurrection. As we read Matthew, we wonder how they did not see what was going to happen. How did they miss this repeated teaching of Jesus? What we have to remember is that the resurrection is not about the disciples, what the disciples understood or even what the disciples deserved. The resurrection is about God acting for us.

April 2

Matthew 27:62-66

The irony of this passage is that his opponents remember Jesus' claim of resurrection, a claim his disciples completely forget. They do their best to make the tomb secure. The problem they have is they think they are working against Jesus' disciples, they don't realize they are working against God!

Try imagining what the disciples felt at this moment. Jesus has died in a brutal manner. They are in hiding. They have forgotten Jesus' teachings of his resurrection. They fear what happened to Jesus could happen to them. Many of his followers have given up the last three year of their lives, what has it gotten them? What do they do now?

April 1

Matthew 26:17-75

The evening begins with Jesus teaching his disciples about communion. Can you imagine how Jesus felt as he shares the words of his body broken and blood shed, knowing that in just a few hours he would be living those words. But in the face of what is coming, his attention is upon the disciples and sharing the message of grace with them. In the sharing of this meal, which we will do in tonight's service, we are reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.