Blog and Announcements

Forgive Much: A Communion Meditation from Pastor Jim

“Forgive Our Debts, as We Forgive Our Debtors”

What kinds of things do you and I say about our sins? Do we say,

“They’re no big deal.”… “Time will erase them.”… “I didn’t really mean to do or say that.”

But, we need to realize sins are “a big deal” and “time does not eliminate them” and “sin does come out of your and my heart and mouth.” Then other questions arise, like, “Who will deliver us from this body of death and these sins? And, does it matter how we view these sins?”

Let’s go to the One who can thoroughly forgive and hear what he says to those earnestly seek his forgiveness.

In Luke 7, we hear Jesus, who understands and recognizes the seriousness of sin and the sincere repentance of a sinful woman (like you and me). He points out her humility and… says to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears (of sorrow) and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.”

Who delivered her from her body of death… from her sin? Well, Jesus does and he goes on to say,

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”  And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.  Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  (Luke 7: 47-48, 50)

Jesus can see the fruits of her (and our) great forgiveness and can see the truly repentant life by how she (and we) forgive others.

“He who is forgiven little, loves little.” The converse is true too. Jesus pointed this out by declaring, “She loved much.” Thus, “He who is forgiven much, loves much.”

Thus, one of the signs your and my sins are forgiven and we have saving faith is that we love and forgive others because of Jesus’ forgiveness.

Think on these things. 

This same Lord Jesus, who forgave this woman, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also Jesus took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

_______________________

Father, you see our great need and are not ashamed of us. We are crippled and afflicted by weakness and sin, but your Son rushed to rescue us. He took on the weakness of our human bodies and entered our sin infested world in order to live the life we could not live. We praise Jesus for seeing the needs of those around him, like this woman, for loving her and us in our brokenness, and serving us with pure compassion, clean hands, and a perfect heart. He forgave much and demonstrated his great love. Change our little, unloving, unforgiving hearts to forgive like His.

In the Savior’s name,

Amen



Prayer from Elder Bill Pritchett on 5/1/2016

Father God,

We have sung this morning about Your goodness, Your sovereignty, Your faithfulness. Father, we thank You for these and all of Your attributes. Your name is to be praised. Father, You are good, You are holy, You are just, You are gracious, You are faithful. As David says in Your word, ‘Everyday I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.’ This morning Lord, we praise Your name. We praise You because we are in awe of who You are. We praise You because we recognize the overwhelming amount of Grace that You continue to show us everyday. We praise You when we think on the work of Jesus on the cross on our behalf. We praise You when we are going through hard times because we know and trust in Your Sovereignty.

In that same Psalm, David continues and says ‘One generation shall commend Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.’ Lord, Your mighty Acts…thank You that nothing that we might be going through is outside of Your control and nothing is outside of Your power. We are comforted by the fact that we don’t have to question if You can handle our situation, we don’t have to question whether or not Christ’s blood is sufficient for us. Father, You are mighty and great is Your faithfulness.

Lord, I pray for our hearts, that they might be even more inclined toward You. I pray for our singing that these will be much more than just words on a screen, but that we are singing in worship to our great God.

We come before You now and we recognize that many of us are tired, we are weak, we are broken. Yet You have made a way for each of us, no matter what our circumstances are, we can give and contribute to the work that You are doing. We are thankful for the gifts that allow us to meet in this place each week and all that is involved in that. Lord, we trust You and Your plans for each one of us as we give.

Father, we pray these things in humble worship to You, and it is in Jesus’ name that we pray, AMEN



Brink’s Outreach to Malawi – April 2016

“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

– 1 Cor. 9:16

 Malawi leadership team

From right to left are: Mildred and Pastor Sam, Pastor Lichapa, Pastor Gibson, and Kenneth Kulupane – a deacon at Pastor Lichapa’s church.

This is the foundational verse that the Brink team clung to as they headed to central Malawi. Pastor Sam, Mildred, Pastor Brian, and Esinathy traveled 350 miles across eastern Zimbabwe, through Mozambique to Liwonde, Malawi to begin their 10 day outreach of encouragement to the Baptist fraternity of pastors, elders, deacons and their wives.