Pastor's Notes for March 14, 2110

WE ARE DEVELOPING A NEW HABIT! Newsletters are available in a box at the rear of the sanctuary filed in alphabetical order. Please find your name and take it home with you. During the week the monthly newsletters are available in the office.

PASTORAL RELATIONS was postponed to Sunday, March 21st. Speak joys & concerns to either Mike Frier, Bill Johnston, Quinton Walsh, Lucille Tschanz, Rosemary Lusk, or Maxine Carty.

AN OPPORTUNITY to equip us for ministry: Elders ~ Deacons Retreat on March 20th at the Clinton Christian Church. Check with the office for more information. ($15 fee; RSVP necessary).


Reflecting on the Scriptures :
FORGIVENESS DEMONSTRATED

Psalm 32. Blessed is the one whose sins are forgiven. Self-deception says, “I have no sin,” but the psalmist says that recognizing sin and confessing it is good for the soul. He then goes on to describe God’s forgiveness demonstrated.

Joshua 5:9-12. Israel transitions from wilderness wandering to a settled life in Canaan, from miraculous manna to harvested crops. Passover celebration marks redemption from slavery in Egypt to fulfillment of promises in Canaan—God’s forgiveness demonstrated in a meal full of symbols.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32. Jesus tells the Parable of the Loving Father sometimes called the Parable of the Prodigal Son! The Father longingly waits for the one who has wandered while showering love on the one who stayed. Forgiveness is demonstrated to each of them but only one realizes it.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21. Jesus left the Father and traveled to a far country to share a table with sinners! If he hadn’t, where would we be? Gracious forgiveness demonstrated by God urges us to demonstrate forgiveness to others. The message has been entrusted to us—we are reconciled to be reconcilers—to declare and to demonstrate forgiveness.



Often it is easier to celebrate "forgiven" that it is to demonstrate forgiveness. The celebation of "forgiven" is a personal matter. Forgiveness demonstrated requires relationship and community. Without forgiveness demonstrated there is no relationshp and there is no community.






COMMUNION MEDITATION 2 Corinthians 5:18 & Romans 5:8

God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

Jesus did everything in his power to help his followers remember this. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and said, "This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying,
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Remember: While we were still sinners Christ died for us. God reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.