Happy Monday to all! Yesterday, we thought about the sweetness of reconciliation from Genesis 33. We saw a picture of that as Jacob and Esau were reconciled to one another. Jacob humbled himself before his brother Esau whom he had deceived and stolen the blessing that normally went to the firstborn son. Esau with a picture of complete grace ran to his brother Jacob and hugged, kissed and wept with him offering complete forgiveness. Reconciliation is the essence of the gospel. The gospel is not a story of “we sin and we can’t be with God.” Yes, our sins are a barrier between us and God. We have offended a holy God by our sins against Him. We, however, could not remove this barrier. God had to do that. God did not wait for us to move toward Him. God moved toward us! God came looking for us! God provided the way for Him and us to be together! The gospel is a story of how God moves toward reconciliation and provides an answer to the question of “how can God be with us?” “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation,” (2 Corinthians 5:19). God moved towards us and continues to move toward us! Romans 5:8 tells us when God did this, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The gospel today tells us God continues to move toward us and call rebellious sinners like us to forgiveness and life through His Christ. God moves toward us in self-sacrificial love and we are to thus move toward others, not away from them.
I want to thank God for the CarePortal team that enables us to minister in Jesus’ name wisely. We have been able to meet tangible and vetted needs of those in our community. Thank you Alicia, Jim, MaryAnn, Tricia, Pete, and Carla for the work you do in this wonderful ministry.
We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper in our worship gathering next Sunday morning.
Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.
Love being your pastor!
Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church