Forgiven

About a year ago I got my first DVR cable box.  It is one of the coolest pieces of technology that I have had a chance to you.  I love being able to record shows that I am not home to watch, but my favorite feature is that you can pause and rewind live TV.  The winning home run, the punch line to the joke, the announcement of the results, all can be watched time and time again.  I can rewind and go back to watch the parts of shows that I wanted to see again.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do that in our own lives?  You could rewind to relive the moments of greatest joy and love.  I also think back to how many times I could rewind so that I could change how something happened.  If only I could rewind and take those words back, if only I could go back and spend more time with that person, say something different, share something with them sooner, etc.  I have a few more moments that I wish I could get another shot at than I would like to admit.  But we have faith in a God of second chances, of grace, and of unconditional love.

We are told in scripture, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:11-12, TNIV)  God forgives us.  God clears our names.  We are just a prayer away from that grace.  We are told in scripture we need to come before God with a penitent hard, that we truly need to be sorry for those things that we have done.

Reliant K says it this way in their song, Forgiven “And I know that I have been forgiven and I just hope you can forgive me too.”  So it is not just enough to pray for forgiveness but as Jesus tells us, we are called to forgive others, not just once, but “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:22, TNIV)

This week we are beginning a new sermon series talking about living the grace filled kind of life that God has in mind for us.  Our series, “Walk the Walk” will be a three week series through the book of Colossians looking at what it looks like to life the life that God has in store for us.  What does it look like to life a life filled with grace, grateful for what God has done for us?

June 27th– Walk the Walk: Colossians 2:8, 16-23: “Walk Your Walk”

July 4th– Walk the Walk: Guest Preacher Jill Vande Zande

July 11th– Walk the Walk: Colossians 3:1-17 “Restart”

July 18th– Walk the Walk: Colossians 4:2-6 “Knocking”