August 10, 2024 — suggested reading: Romans 6:1 – 23

“What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:1-11

“No one is happier than the one who has sincerely repented of wrong. Repentance is the decision to turn from selfish desires and seek God. It is a genuine, sincere regret that creates sorrow and moves us to admit wrong and desire to do better. It’s an inward conviction that expresses itself in outward actions. You look at the love of God and you can’t believe he’s loved you like he has, and this realization motivates you to change your life. That is the nature of repentance.” (Max Lucado)

The words of Romans 6 are often read at the funeral service — for nothing brings us comfort more than knowing that “if we have been united with Christ in a death like his, we will certainly be united with Christ in a resurrection like his”. This is a love that is just impossible to comprehend. And when we know this love, then we are moved to live into that love.

Pastor Dave

August 11, 2024 – Pentecost +12B

“Jesus said to [the crowd,] “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” John 6:35, 41-51

Jesus is laying down some heavy stuff here in the 6th chapter of John. It begins with the Feeding of the 5000. How did Christ do it? What could it all mean? These were the questions running through the minds of the people in the crowds — as well as the Jews who now ask more difficult questions: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary?” “How can he say ‘I have come down from Heaven?’” “We know where he comes from — and that is not Heaven — so what is going on?”

Among the questioning — Jesus has told the crowd that he is the bread of life — the bread of life that has come down from Heaven — thus the questions about his genealogy. So, here now we have the real confrontation — Jesus is setting out some relational statements and the people don’t know what to make of them — or what to do. They thought they knew Jesus as the “hometown boy” — now he is saying that he came from Heaven — what are they to believe?

Well, what are we to believe? What or who is Jesus? Is he the Son of Mary and Joseph — or is he the Son of G-d? Is Jesus someone you keep at arm’s length — or is Jesus someone you take into your very heart, mind and soul? Is Jesus someone you visit once in a while — or is Jesus invited into your home and your personal life on a daily basis? In other words, what kind of relationship do you have with Jesus?

Have you ever been drawn to something, or someone so much so you cannot stay away or resist? What or who was it? Your spouse? A Favorite rock band? Perhaps a particular author, or a teacher, or a television show. It is the art of attraction that pulls us to these things — like a magnet that draws along a paperclip. So, how does the Father draw us to Christ? The text says “We will be taught by G-d”. The text tells us that our relationship with G-d should be one like the teacher and the learner — the Rabbi and the disciple. As we struggle to understand the world, our place in it, and perhaps even the meaning of life, we turn to G-d’s word that teaches us about salvation through not only the ways, and the life of Christ — but the cross as well. And the more we learn, the more we understand how profound his statement is: “I am the bread that came down from heaven”. It is because of that bread that we have the promise of being raised with Christ on the last day.

Pastor Dave