June 19, 2022

“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom

of heaven” (Matthew 5:20)

Our situation as humans is pretty desperate, since being in debt to God leads to eternal death. If we want to escape this judgment, we need to get right with God again.

We can’t “buy” forgiveness with money or sacrifices or anything else. The whole earth belongs to God already; He does not need anything from us.

We can’t compensate for our sins by leading extra righteous lives. Not even the religious elite in Jesus’

day could reach this goal, as today’s verse from Matthew 5 makes clear. By human standards, they were

blameless. But Jesus compares them to “whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27).

The prophet Isaiah says that even our good deeds are not pure (Isaiah 64:6). We are only making things

worse by continually falling short of God’s standards. This is confirmed by the apostle Paul in his letter to

the Romans, where he says that no human being will be justified by works of the law. The law just shows

us how sinful we actually are.

The sobering conclusion is that we can’t get right with God ourselves. We need a solution “from

outside”.

Review these scriptures & scroll to the "How is forgiveness possible?"devotional for the answer.

(Romans 3:20; Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 5:17-22)

Jennifer White

June 26, 2022

“This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew

26:28)

Since God is righteous, He won’t simply condone our offense and “forget about it”. The only way to

restore the relationship between man and God is to get our debt out of the way. But as we saw last

week, no human, not even the most respected religious expert, is able to do so.

The Lord is aware of our inability to get right with Him again. But He does not want any of us to perish,

and therefore He offers a solution: Himself. God the Son was ready to take the burden of sin and guilt

upon Himself and to pay the ransom by dying in our place. He poured out His blood for many for the

forgiveness of sins, as He explained to His disciples. We just need to believe in Him to be forgiven and to

have our relationship with God restored!

Jesus’ sacrifice was the only possible and ultimate solution to the problem of human sin. “Without the

shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins”, the book of Hebrews says, and only a perfect sacrifice

would suffice. Therefore, God the Son became man to shed His own blood for sinners.

Do you accept Jesus’ offer of forgiveness?

If you have decided to have a relationship with Christ or renew your relationship with Christ, please

contact any of our staff or call the church office. The angels rejoice!!

(Matthew 26:26-29; Isaiah 53:4-6; Hebrews 9:11-28)

Jennifer White

July 3, 2022

“By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16)

Last week, we learned that Jesus poured out His own blood for the forgiveness of sins. Why would He do that? Why would He humble Himself to become human, endure suffering, and even be crucified?

The answer is: because He loves us. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. The Son so loved the world that He laid down His life for us.

In John 15:12-13, Jesus says: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" 

But Jesus’ own love goes even further. For as we read in Romans 5:8, He died for us while we were still hostile to Him. We were His enemies, not His friends! There is nothing in us that makes us worthy of forgiveness. Besides His endless divine love for humans, there is no logical explanation why God would take so much effort to save sinners. He is like this father in the parable, who longs for his son — not because the son has behaved so well or because he needs his son for practical reasons, but because the father loves his child.

Do you feel loved by God?

(1 John 3:16, John 3:16; John 15:12-13; Romans 5:1-1)

Jennifer White

July 10, 2022

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

Every sin is so bad that it deserves to be punished. No single sin is so bad that it can’t be forgiven.

We as humans tend to distinguish between sins that are very bad and sins that are not too bad. This

distinction makes sense in society, where punishment should be in proportion to the harm done. But for

God, even the tiniest transgression leaves us guilty. He demands us to be perfectly holy as He is perfectly

holy, and we all fall short there. Any sin we commit is serious enough to deserve eternal separation from

God.

At the same time, even the biggest sin will be forgiven if we confess it. Jesus’ blood has the power to cleanse us from anything we did wrong. The apostle Paul lists his own sins as an example: 

“Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy…” (1 Timothy 1:13) 

The Bible provides more examples of people who did things we might consider unforgivable, but when they

wholeheartedly repented, the Lord forgave them.

Never think you have sinned too badly to be forgiven. Confess your sins to the Lord and ask for His

mercy!

(1 John 1:7-9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 Timothy 1:12-17)

Jennifer White

July 17, 2022

“It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is

found.” (Luke 15:32)

Remember the parable we read a few weeks back, about the father and his lost son? Let’s read this parable again, but this time focus on the attitude of a third person involved.

When the father had welcomed his lost son in and organized a party, the older brother noticed what was going on. He did not join the party, however, but “became angry and refused to go in”. He despised his brother deeply and denounced the father’s unconditional love for this boy. To his opinion, such a sinner was not worthy of a warm welcome — especially since the older son himself had always served his father blamelessly!

We already concluded that the father in this parable is God Himself. The lost son is a sinner who repents and comes back to his heavenly Father. So, who is this older brother? It is a fellow human who begrudges the repentant sinner the Father’s grace — and by doing so, excludes himself from the party.

In Jesus’ day, it was the religious elite who played the role of the grudging brother.

Are any such feelings in your heart as well? Are there people you deem unworthy of God’s forgiveness?

(Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:11-32)

Jennifer White

July 24, 2022

“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

Sin is primarily a problem between God and man. But if we have wronged a fellow human, we need to

get right with this person as well, if at all possible.

The story about Zacchaeus is a good example here. He was a chief tax collector who was very rich and

known as “a sinner”. But this man came to faith in Jesus and was saved. This led to a radical change in his life. He said: 

“The half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I

restore it fourfold” (Luke 19:8).

Once Zacchaeus’ relationship with God was restored, he realized that he had wronged his fellow citizens — probably by demanding too much tax. He wanted to set things straight. In Matthew 5, Jesus says that we can’t worship God if we are consciously living in discord with a “brother”, meaning some person we know, not necessarily a family member. We need to be reconciled first and then come back to offer our gift to the Lord. This reconciliation will always involve a heartfelt apology, and if possible the restoration of what we have done wrong, as in the case of Zacchaeus.

Is there anybody who “has something against you” that you need to apologize for?

(Matthew 5:23-26; Luke 19:1-10; Romans 12:17-18)

Jennifer White

July 31, 2022

“If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if

you do not forgive others their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray for forgiveness, He adds the verses quoted above. We cannot receive forgiveness for ourselves while refusing to forgive others.

To illustrate this, Jesus tells a parable about a servant who owes the king a huge sum of money. His master forgives him of this debt. On his way home, the man meets a fellow servant who owes him a small amount of money. The fellow-servant pleads for patience since he can’t pay his debt right now. But the first servant, who has been forgiven so much himself, refuses to have mercy and puts the other man in prison until he pays the debt. When the king hears about this, he is indignant about the servant’s attitude and blames him, 

“Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:33).

This is a warning example for us. If we have received undeserved forgiveness from God, we should also have mercy on other people who have wronged us and ask us to forgive them. For if we are not ready to forgive others, how would we dare to ask God to forgive us?

Is there anybody you need to forgive?

(Matthew 18:21-35; Matthew 6:7-15; John 20:23; Colossians 3:13)

Jennifer White