Week 5

Forgiveness

At the heart of the Gospel is forgiveness. We need forgiveness because we have all sinned and fall short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23). Sin is the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4). We a lot of times may dismiss sin as not being “that bad”. When we compare ourselves to other people we may not seem “that bad”. It is not until we compare ourselves to God and His holy standard that we realize our need for forgiveness. Everyone can find someone worse off than they are, but Gods standard is perfect. If we’ve kept the whole law and yet offend in just one area we are guilty of it all (James 2:10).

The Bible says in Romans 6:23 that the penalty for those sins is death. This is why we need a savior. We have a sin debt and that penalty is death. God didn’t want that to be, but if He is just and fair, He must punish sin. Thank about it this way if a earthly judge let someone off, who rapped and murdered someone, simply because they are now a good person and said they won’t do it again, the Judge would be corrupt and should be punished himself. How much more holy, fair, and just is our God. If we’ve sinned that sin must be punished.

God didn’t want it that way, so He provided a way. He sent his only Son (John 3:16) to earth in the form of a man. He lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose again the third day. Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us. A legal transaction was made. He took our penalty in exchange we received His righteousness. We can go free in God’s court room because that penalty has been satisfied in Jesus.

How do we get that forgiveness? By repenting of our sins and putting our trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Robert said in class, “good people don’t go to heaven, Saved people do”. I’m glad that is true, because if I had to rely on my goodness I’d be in real trouble.

Our Visit

We were scheduled to visit a family from the school. When we got there the child was sick so we told them we’d come back at a better time. We were in the area of another member of our Sunday school class, so we dropped by. It was a great visit. You know how God closes doors so that others can be opened. I feel that this visit was one of them. We had a good discussion and prayer while we were there.

Josh gave out our bible to a lady at a car wash in Jacksonville and earlier in the week he had a chance to share what he has learned in FAITH with a friend on the computer.

Prayer Request

Pray for our age group. Satan is hitting us with sickness and just all sorts of things to keep us a way from serving the Lord. Pray for our visitors and potential visitors we’ve meet the last few weeks for our class. Pray that they feel a connection and the love of God through His people. Pray for our outreach both on our scheduled Tuesday night visit and our everyday lives. Pray for my family and the White’s. We will be traveling Wednesday and be gone through Thursday. Pray that we’ll be safe.

Week 4

This week there were several people out sick. We even had one missing from our team. This weeks lesson was on the F in FAITH. F is for forgiveness. Everyone has sinned and needs God’s forgiveness. The bible says in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”. Everyone must first realize that we are all sinners. A lot of time we compare ourselves to other people. When we do that we seem to be okay. It is not until we compare ourselves to God and his holy standards, that we realize how bad we are. Just look at God’s law, the 10 commandments. For example, who hasn’t stolen or told a lied. Who has failed to put God first? We also have those secret sins of the heart were God sees hatred as murder and lust as adultery. I can see where I’ve broken every single one of these. If we say that we have not sinned we are calling Jesus a liar (1 John 1:10)because the Bible say “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Even if we’ve kept most of the law we’re still guilty; for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all. (see James 2:10)

Once we understand that we are sinners we can understand our need for forgiveness. That forgiveness is in Jesus only. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. (Eph 1:7). It is only through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross that our sins are paid for. That is what separates Christianity from all the world religions. The world’s religions believe we can work our way their. That penalty it too large for us to pay ourselves, God can’t be bribed. God came down in the form of a man to pay for our sins, that they may be forgiven.

Our Visit

I was assigned to go with Chris and Judy’s team, since both teams were missing people. We were assigned a new resident that lived close to me. There was nobody home, so we went to the neighbor’s house. They didn’t want to talk and said that their child already attended a Church. So we didn’t get to talk to anyone tonight, but it was a success. I got to talk with both Chris and Judy. We had a great time of fellowship.

Prayers

Remember those that were out sick in our FAITH group. Remember my Great-Aunt. She had surgery and ended up with a stroke. Pray that the doctors and family will make the correct decision on how to treat her. Pray for Daniel that I came into contact with the last few days. Pray that I’ll be able to ask about his salvation. He seems to have bible knowledge and be open to spiritual subjects.