As we continue our journey through Lent, this week we are invited to dwell with these four scriptures…
Numbers 21:4–9
Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22
John 3:14–21
Ephesians 2:1–10
In Michele Hershberger’s book, God’s Story Our Story, she writes… “Judgment and grace are flip sides of the same coin. From the beginning of the Bible, we see that God’s judgement on sin is not mean-spirited punishment. It is always tied to God’s desire to restore right relationships with God, our inner selves, others, and creation.
If you are like me, you tend to focus on the warmer attributes of God. In our scriptures this week, we see both sides of that coin Michele talks about. The provided scriptures also include, perhaps the most popular Bible verse… John 3:16.
I wonder if John 3:16 has become the watered-down gospel of Jesus. I say watered down to point out that our relationship with Jesus is more than John 3:16… right? Sometimes, I think we look for the most basic, the absolute minimum we have to do to be included as a part of God’s family. What if we our mindset was to fully embrace what God is calling us to?
What if the Gospel, the good news, is that we have been given the gift of eternal life, to be lived abundantly, by loving God and loving our neighbors. Embracing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with our God.
What if our questions centered around how we can fully abide in Christ to live fully, love extravagantly and be all that you were created to be.
Come join us on Sunday as we continue our journey through Lent and see what the Spirit has for us in these scriptures.
As you dwell with these scriptures, what do you notice? What do you wonder? Where might the Spirit be nudging?
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
~ Pastor Dustin
