8-14-2017

       Good Morning All,

                      Colossians 1:22; “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him”

    What would happen if you fell down and broke your arm?  For most of us, we would go to the hospital.  We would go to the x-ray and then after they found the break, we would go to the doctor and have him put us in a splint or put a cast on it.  We would take our time and then let it heal until it was strong enough to use again.  You would take the time to heal.

    We would never think about leaving a broken arm or a broken leg unattended to.  We would never think that it doesn’t matter.  We would never leave it broken so every time we bumped it we would feel the pain all over again.  Every little twist or bump, whether intentional or accidental, would cause us pain and maybe even cause us to remember how we broke our arm or leg.  We would not let it go untreated; we would do what it takes to make it heal.  So why don’t we try to heal our relationships as well.

    Jesus came into this world to bring an end to the wall of separation that existed between man and God.  By offering his body as a sacrifice, he reconciled us back to God.  Because of his sacrifice, we can stand before God whole, holy and blameless.  We are before him as his dear children.  The brokenness of the sin which separated us from God has been healed.  It is by his grace and mercy that we can come to him in all boldness and approach his throne as children approach their parents.

    Since God has healed our pain and our brokenness; since he has made us whole; He gives us the power to heal the brokenness in our relationships with our brothers and sisters.  Just as he heals us to stand before him in a loving relationship; he empowers us to heal the relationships with those around us.  The brokenness, all the pain that occurs because we fail to heal the break, can be healed.  This is done best by focusing on the forgiveness that is ours through Jesus.  Since we are forgiven, we need to look at all of our relationships through the lens of our forgiveness.  Since we are forgiven and are forgiven so much; we have the power in our hands to forgive those around us, we just need to have the desire in our heart. 

   We have been given the power to change the desire of our heart from selfishness to loving.  We have been given the opportunity to desire the love of God to pour through us.  This is what God desires for us, to live our life in the fellowship of each other.  God desire is for all of us to live in peace together.   By forgiving our sins, he enables us to forgive our brother.

Father of all goodness, your mercies are new to us each day.  They roll over us like a river.  Through your gift of redemption, you have brought us back to be your children.  Enable, empower and encourage us to rebuild the relationships with our brothers and sisters.  Be with those who are struggling at this time.  Be with those who are broken and distraught.  Heal them with your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen savior, amen.

God’s Peace,          

Pastor Bret