September 28, 2022 – Walking In Forgiveness

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7

“Jesus adds the merciful to those who should see themselves as blessed. Why? They, too, will receive mercy. Jesus is most likely referring to receiving mercy from God. Generally, it is the character of God to show mercy to the merciful (Psalm 18:25). The reverse should also be true but it’s not always the case. Those who have received mercy from God ought to be merciful to others. The series of nine sentences (in Matthew 5) describes an unlikely group of people as blessed: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those hungry for righteousness, and the merciful. All are blessed because of their part in the kingdom of heaven. This includes those persecuted for the sake of righteousness and on account of Jesus. Instead of despairing, they should rejoice for the great rewards they will receive in heaven. These are not prerequisites for salvation; instead, they are the natural expressions of saving faith in the life of those who know Christ.”(BibleRef.com)

Has your resentment brought you relief? That is question that all of us must ask ourselves often. Why? Because we live in a world that would like nothing better than to see us bite and tear each other apart — even if the one biting and tearing is us. The Greek word for forgiveness literally means to “let go”. We let go of the things that have hurt us because to hold on to them means that we release our attention and our grip on our relationship with G-d. Letting go of resentments means we can hold onto the teachings of Christ, which includes love, mercy and grace.

Get over it or get even. Let it heal or turn to hate. Release it or resent it. Resentment allows whatever’s eating you, to eat you up. It certainly is our choice….

Let us pray,

Lord help me today to let go off my hurts and to hold onto your love, mercy and grace. Perhaps this will allow me to be more forgiving of others. Amen.

Pastor Dave

September 27, 2022 — Bread That Feeds the World

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life,…. Christ is so called, because he gives life to dead sinners: men in a state of nature are dead in trespasses and sins; and whatever they feed upon tends to death; Christ, the true bread, only gives life, which is conveyed by the word, and made effectual by the Spirit: and because he supports and maintains the life he gives; it is not in the power of a believer to support the spiritual life he has; nor can he live on anything short of Christ; and there is enough in Christ for him to live upon…” (Gills Exposition of the Entire Bible)

Jesus is not only the “bread that comes down from heaven”, he is the bread that feeds us every day. Jesus is trying to get the people to change from thinking of bread as “bread”, and instead to thinking of his body (in terms of his ministry) as the bread that everyone needs to live. Bread will feed you today — his bread, his teachings and examples of ministry will bring you eternal life. But how do you get people who are chronically hungry to think of bread in this way?

You see, those who are hungry now, want bread to fill their stomachs now. So, in giving the people bread now, will they be able to see how his teachings, his love, his mercy and his grace will lead to a life that not only feeds the body but also feeds the spirit as well? They will make the connection if they continue to follow – for they will soon see that his life will become the food they need for eternal life. If they can listen and learn — perhaps we can listen and learn – and then others will also learn from watching us following, listening, and serving all people in the name of Jesus that there is spiritual nourishment in our ministries.

We look to Jesus to feed us words that help us make sense of this world right now. But if we stay on the journey with Jesus, if we continue to listen to his teachings, and to study his words, we will receive the words that lead to eternal life — and live a life of love and service along the way.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, give me the bread that I need today – to feed my stomach but also to feed my life into eternal life. Amen.

Pastor Dave