A Word From Sunday, December 11th

Today’s sermon started like you might expect with any sermon this close to Christmas with the biblical recount of the birth of Christ. However, shortly after the beginning it quickly changed to a sermon on forgiveness, both Christ forgiving us and then in turn us forgiving others.

We are all born with a sin nature that makes forgiving others very difficult. With our default programming being sinful we automatically want to return pain for pain. The order in which God set this change in motion was by His design and like everything else He has done, not random, but planned and with purpose. We must accept his forgiveness for our sins first and invite Him into our hearts before He can begin to rewire us to the point that we can forgive others and with his strength override our sin nature. People without this inner guide act and react sinfully in almost every situation, as we all did before salvation.

It is easy for me to become angry or upset with people that fly in the face of God’s word and do things proudly at times that are sinful and cause hurt to everyone, especially if they are in a leadership or influential position. But after some thought, I have come to realize they are just lost people acting like lost people and they need the same Savior we have. So yes, as David said in his sermon, Christmas (and really every other day) is a time of forgiving others just as Christ forgave us.

Doug Mayfield