Oct 9 OVERFLOWING WITH GRATITUDE!
Thank You For A Guilt Free Identity! (Thanksgiving Sunday)
A Verse to Remember:
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thess 5:18
Gospel Story: Acts 16:25-34 A Truly “Thanksgiving Meal” ..”his entire household rejoiced because they … all believed in God.”
Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 10:1-4
The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.
3 But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. 4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Reflection:
I want you to imagine, “perfect cleansing for those who came to worship”. Perfect cleansing, we are told means “their feelings of guilt would have disappeared”…. More than “cleanse people from their sins, the sacrificial system we are told “reminded [people] of their sins year after year”.
The Gospel story that we highlight above in Acts truly captures a “thanksgiving meal”. Why is everyone thankful? Because the whole family “believed in God” … They heard the word, believed the message and were “saved”. Saved from what? Sin. And how was this possible? “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” And it happened. The just like that.
Thanksgiving is often a time to count our blessings. As we “count our many blessings”, let’s pause for a moment and feast on the fact that with Jesus there is “perfect cleansing” and the feelings of guilt disappear.
Several weeks ago someone encountered Jesus during our worship gathering. They told me they had be struggling with sin. “I had been seeking forgiveness for my ongoing struggle with being critical and negative.” During worship they had an encounter with Jesus. They explained, “Jesus came to me… He looked me in the eyes and said, “I see no sin in you”. The person noted that this experience with Jesus, “It brought tears to my eyes! At some point He placed His hand over my heart. I felt so loved!” …. “i see no sin in you” -NOW THAT”S GOOD NEWS and that’s what i’m talking about! Jesus gives us a guilt free identity. THANK YOU JESUS!
Our faith in Jesus is not a system that reminds us of sin. Jesus provides “perfect cleansing for those who come to worship”! “I see no sin” - Wow, that’s the Gospel!!! May we all experience him and give thanks—maybe even make a meal to celebrate, a Thanksgiving meal :)