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God's promises are sure.
Time and time again, the stories of
Scripture—both testaments—show this to be
true.
Human promises?
Not so much, at least not all the
time.
It's a foundational difference
between being God and being made
in God's image:
where we human types are concerned,
our words of intention and our actions can
be (and often are) divided by sin.
Sometimes are promises are made
half-heartedly or even in bad faith.
More often, “life” and the forces
that pull us in so many different directions
get in between our promises and our
fulfillment of our promises.
Fortunately for us, God's promises
ARE always kept, even when we don't
recognize it or don't hold up our end of the
relationship.
Throughout the fast-approaching
season of Lent, we will be reminded of God's
promises.
We will be reassured by God's
faithfulness to our forebears in faith, and
will look together for signs of God's
faithfulness in our lives today.
Covenant relationships—relationships
between God and His people based on
promises—will come alive during mid-week
lenten worship as we hear and think about
Noah, Abraham and Sarah, the freed Hebrews
who had been slaves in Egypt, and the
prophet Jeremiah.
Together, gathered around the cross
of Christ, candidates were about to take in
the Sacrament.
It is a wonderful time for us to be
reminded of the promises of forgiveness and
new life spoken to us at our own baptism,
and to the gift of daily repentance and
return to the Lord.
Our own broken promises are forgiven
and cleansed to clear the way for the true
and lasting word, God's Word—the
crucified and risen Jesus Christ.
“If what you heard from the beginning abides in you,
then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.
And this is what he has promised us, eternal life”
(1 John 2:24-25)
In Christ,
Pastor Jill
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