What are you looking
for in life?
Every person who is asked that question will
no doubt offer a different answer.
At First Lutheran Church,
Concord, California, the answer to that really big question about
life is always the same: LOVE.
Of course, everyone thinks
love is a good thing.... if you can find it.
The Good news is
that you CAN find love. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and
Savior of the world, will actually give you God's love as A
GIFT.
True love consists of lots of wonderful qualities; however,
the primary characteristic of genuine love is FORGIVENESS.
You may have just noticed that no matter how strong or how smart
you are, you cannot always "get it right".
THAT'S LIFE!
Now....
what to do. Brood and maybe boil over because of the messes
we make, or others make? Or....turn them over to someone who
can help us with the messes of life?
FORGIVENESS means we admit
we have done the bad or not done the good.... but then turn to Jesus
and accept God's verdict: "You are forgiven". That is precisely
why Jesus went to the cross and died, and then rose on the third
day.
As a person would erase a white board of all the black marks
on it, so God erases our sins and says: "Today is the first day of
the rest of your life. Rejoice and be glad in it."
Because
of Jesus' death and resurrection, God erases not only the sin, but
the guilt and shame, the bitterness and anger.... so that we can learn
from our mistakes and move on to better days.
Accepting forgiveness
for ourselves and sharing our forgiveness with others is not an easy
thing to do. That is why we gather weekly to listen to God's
Words to us. We need all the help we can get. And....
God is ready and willing to talk us into believing in forgiveness....
and He will re-talk us into it as often as it is necessary.
That is why we have Worship Services every Sunday. SO COME AND WORSHIP WITH US SOON.
Pastor Jim Mueller
