From The Heart, A Story Of Love, Loss & The Power Of Forgiveness

Flaherty's Crossing, Author Kaylin McFarren

From Pacific Northwest's award-winning author Kaylin McFarren comes a powerful novel about love, loss, and the power of forgiveness...

For more information about this must read novel, visit Kaylin McFarren at her beautiful author's site, where you will be blessed as you read about the author, the book, the story and Kaylin's cause.

The Forgiveness Of Sins

The forgiveness of sins - What a wonderful blessing this is! This is the great message which comes to us from the story of Jesus being anointed by "a woman who had lived a sinful life" (Luke 7:37). This woman had been touched by the love of Jesus. She had received forgiveness from the Lord Jesus. Here, we see her expressing her love for Jesus. Here, she shows her gratitude to Jesus. We recall the description of Jesus given to us in Luke 7:34 - Jesus is the Friend of sinners. What a wonderful statement this is - Jesus is the Friend of sinners. What a marvellous declaration of the Gospel this is - Jesus is the Friend of sinners. This is the amazing grace of Christ's Gospel. It was amazing grace for the sinful world. It is still amazing grace for us - Jesus is the Friend of sinners. What a blessing it is to know that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners! What a blessing it is to know that Jesus Christ receives sinners!

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Here's a link for the rest of this sermon - Sermons on Luke's Gospel - Luke 7:36-50

"God Speaks To Us ... "

God speaks to us of His love. He tells us that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

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"I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth...I have no answer...I will say no more" (Job 40:3-5). God speaks to us about our sin: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." He tells us that "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Why does God speak to us like this? He speaks "so that every mouth may be silenced" (Romans 3:23, 19; Isaiah 64:6). We must stop talking about our own righteousness and start listening to what God is saying to us. He speaks to us of "His love." He tells us that, "while we were sinners, Christ died for us." This is Good News - "the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin." No more excuses - "I'm not such a bad person. I'm really quite good!" Let's "confess our sins" and receive God's forgiveness (Romans 5:8; 1 John 1:7-10).

Christ Is Coming In Glory. Christ Is Preparing Us For Glory.

We read in Titus 2:11,13 of Christ’s coming in grace- ‘the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all people’- and His coming in glory- ‘we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ’. From grace to glory - This is the journey from Christ’s first coming to His Second Coming.

It is also the journey of our life of faith. We begin with the forgiveness of our sins. our final destination is glory, heavenly and eternal glory, the glory of God. We live by the grace of God. We look forward to the glory of God.

God wants us to live as ‘a people of His own who are zealous for good deeds’(Titus 2:14). If we are to be ‘zealous for good deeds’, we must first be zealous for Jesus Christ. Do good - but never forget, ‘He saved us - not because of deeds done by us...’(Titus 3:8, 4-6).

‘The Blood Of Jesus Christ, God's Son, Cleanses Us From All Sin.’

2 Kings 5:1-27

How are we to receive God’s blessing? Are we to ‘do some great thing’? Are we to prove ourselves worthy of His blessing? No! The Word of God gives this simple instruction: ‘Wash and be clean’(13). Salvation is not something to be paid for or earned. It’s ‘the free gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord’(Romans 6: 23). We don’t come to God, saying, ‘Look at me. Look at how good I am. Look at my religion. Look at my morality. You’ve got to bless me. I deserve it’. We come to Him, believing His Word- ‘the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin’- confessing our sins and trusting in His promise of forgiveness- ‘If we confess our sins, He forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong’(1 John 1:7,9). Forget about ‘doing some great thing’. Obey the command that really matters: ‘Wash and be clean’. 

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Blessings in Christ

Christ in all the Scriptures

http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com