Link to Today's Sunday School Class

 Here is the link to notes for our Sunday School class today

Right Thinking Over Time With God's Help= Changed Life

I decided to not present the communion meditation I posted yesterday. I am using this instead:

Happy Thanksgiving. Things are about to get crazy! Parties, gifts, food, Christmas cards, concerts, Christmas lights, snow, snowball fights, ice- please be careful! The hustle and bustle! Exciting but stressful. This time can be wonderful, but it can also be super distracting. I would like you all to set aside all of the holiday feels right now and invite you to join me in a time of Christian meditation. Take a nice deep breath and sigh as you breathe out because God wants to give you peace right now. Right now, we focus on communion. Communion is about focusing on what matters. Jesus provides a great example of the power of proper focus. I would like to read from Hebrews 12:1-3, 

Hebrews 12:1-3

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

As Jesus endured the cross, we know he sweat blood and was in misery. But we are also told he scorned or “thought nothing of” the shame. We are told He felt a deep sense of joy knowing He would save the world. He could have called 10,000 angels and slaughtered all the evil people around him. However, His focus or His thinking was correct. His focus was not on himself but on what God would do through the cross for all humankind forever.

As we examine our hearts, we acknowledge our guilt and feel the shame of our sins. We are sorry. Godly sorrow leads us to eagerness for Him, alarm, longing, and concern that we need Him to make things right.

Communion is a time to repent. Do you know what repent means? Repent means right thinking. Communion is a time to think correctly about who we are- sinners who need a savior and who Jesus is- our perfect sacrificial lamb. We are all guilty. Our guilt leads us to the cross and a sense of relief and victory. As we focus on His love, our guilt leads us to accept His protection, His hope, His forgiveness, peace, grace, power, patience, kindness, gentleness, and through all of this, He makes us overcomers. 

You see, with right thinking about who we are in Him and what He can do through us, over time, with God’s help, He will lead us to a changed life. Here is an equation that I like to share. Right thinking/time with God’s help=changed life. Please join me in prayer:

Father, thank you for being faithful and just and for cleansing us from all unrighteousness. We know that w you, all things are possible. Thank you for carrying our shame. We confess we are guilty. But our shame isn’t what defines us. Jesus defines us. And even in the moments when our shame weighs on us heavily, we can look to you, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, knowing that He took our guilt and shame away forever. We pray for your guidance as we press on toward growing in our relationship with you. 

A Nice Big Helping of Guilt and Shame!

Happy Thanksgiving. At a time to reflect on all of the things we have to be thankful for, what better topic to discuss around the holidays than guilt and shame. 

Was the stuffing or Turkey that you cooked and brought to the meal gathering too dry? Did you forget to make the green bean mushroom soup casserole or leave it on the counter at home? Did you show up late to the family gathering or speak too harshly at your kids if they got a little carried away? Perhaps you said too much when discussing the latest political news and views or maybe you should have kept your mouth shut when your mother-in-law commented on your father-in-law’s toupe.  If so, maybe you also helped yourself to a nice big helping of guilt and shame for your ride home.

As your mind ruminated on these ideas perhaps you thought that the holidays are a microcosm of what really happens in life. That’s right, not only do you feel like a Thanksgiving loser, but now you feel like a big loser overall!

Well, good news! No one is perfect and no one is ever going to get everything right. In fact, we may make the same mistakes over and over again.  Like Browns fans, we always hope it will be better next year, but, the difference is that with Christ we will be victorious.

When it comes time for communion, we are faced with this reality of life. We are asked to examine ourselves. Examine our hearts. If you are sitting here right now struggling with focus and/or you feel like a big Thanksgiving loser, Jesus is encouraging us to not give up. 

The purpose of communion is to draw us to Him. To examine our hearts and remember and give thanks for Christ and His sacrifice for our sins. The purpose of this moment is to help us focus. If your mind keeps racing or you continue to make the same mistakes, don’t throw in the towel. Don’t allow feelings of guilt and shame to keep you from working on directing your heart and mind during this moment. 

Hebrews 12:1-3

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Father, thank you for being faithful and just and for cleansing us from all unrighteousness. We know that w you, all things are possible. thank you for carrying our shame. We confess we are guilty. But our shame isn’t what defines us. Jesus defines us. And even in the moments when our shame weighs on us heavily, we can look to you, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, knowing that He took our guilt and shame away forever. We pray for your guidance as we press on toward growing in our relationship with you.