Day 94 | Sunday, 21 June 2020

​Day 94  |  Sunday, 21 June 2020 – Happy Father’s Day

 The assigned readings for the third Sunday after Pentecost are: Genesis 21:8-21; Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 or Psalm 17; Romans 6:1b-11 and Matthew 10:24-39.  I want to share the Romans passage with you from both the CEB and The Message.  The Message is just so plain.  I will follow the passages with a commentary from the CEB study Bible I use.  Again, you are invited to take the thoughts I share, let them simmer and adjust

Romans 6 CEB Our new life in Christ
“So, what are we going to say? Should we continue sinning so grace will multiply? 2 Absolutely not! All of us died to sin. How can we still live in it? 3 Or don’t you know that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore, we were buried together with him through baptism into his death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life. 5 If we were united together in a death like his, we will also be united together in a resurrection like his. 6 This is what we know: the person that we used to be was crucified with him in order to get rid of the corpse that had been controlled by sin. That way we wouldn’t be slaves to sin anymore, 7 because a person who has died has been freed from sin’s power. 8 But if we died with Christ, we have faith that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and he will never die again. Death no longer has power over him. 10 He died to sin once and for all with his death, but he lives for God with his life. 11 In the same way, you also should consider yourselves dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.”

The Message
“1 So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? 2 I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? 3 Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace - a new life in a new land!  That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. 4 When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. 5 Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country. 6 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life - no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: 7, 8 If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. 9 We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. 10 When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. 11 From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did. “

 Wesleyan Core Term Power of Sin: “Wesley believed the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the greatest out-pouring of God’s love and mercy upon the world.  In Jesus, the power of sin that penetrates every aspect of our lives and the whole creation was exposed, engaged, and overcome.  One of the marvelous benefits flowing to humanity through the person of Christ is the cancellation of sin and guilt before God.  For Wesley, this is the working of divine grace that turns us and draws us toward God, pardoning and renewing us through the gift of faith, moving and enabling us to seek and receive the benefits of Christ.  While Wesley understood the power of sin to be broken and our sin forgiven, our realization of full participation in God’s new creation, as adopted children of God, remains a lifelong journey.  Our baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ signifies the shape of this journey and the power that makes it possible.: CEB page 1427

 As we join others in some form of worship on this Lord’s day, we offer our praises to you, O God, for your love and grace.  Surround us with your Spirit’s presence and prepare us for another week of living amid changes.  Be with those suffering from COVID-19 and their families.  Let them feel your comfort.  Hold them in your hands.  Lord, hear our prayers.  Amen 

​Today: remember your baptism and be thankful.