Lent- Week 2

Lent (Week Two)
Scripture Focus: Romans 5: 1-11; Genesis 45
Objective: To discover our gift of and need of reconciliation
Week TWO! How are you feeling? Now that we have discovered our need for repentance, I believe that this week we have a new focal point-reconciliation!

To reconcile means to restore to friendship or harmony. As we examine our desert experiences as opportunities for growth, it is necessary to first discover our GIFT of reconciliation. A gift is something that is given to another person without expectation of compensation. Before we were born or even THOUGHT ABOUT observing this Lenten season, God gave us reconciliation with Him as a GIFT! He sent Himself in the person of Jesus to shed blood as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could be RECONCILED (in friendship and harmony) with God! WHAT A GIFT?!?!

During this week of Lenten observation, I invite you to focus on the following aspects that come along with the GIFT of reconciliation:

1-You have PEACE with God (Rom 5:1-2a) Our peace with God is not based on our own merit or other's vouching for our character and integrity! Our peace with God is here because of our FAITH in God! It is by this faith that you and I have been justified (made right) in the sight of God. This is a blessing because no one can take that away from us! You have PEACE with God. No matter your shortcoming or struggle...your faith and belief in God has given you peace with God!

2-You must REJOICE in the HOPE & in the SUFFERING (Rom 5:2b-5)
In Job 2:7-10, Job questions his wife "Shall accept good from God and not trouble?". Now how could Job boldly respond to his wife in this manner? Perhaps, Job understood what Paul would later explain to the church at Rome and now to us during this Lenten season: suffering gives birth to hope! It is easy for us to rejoice in the hope because it rests in Jesus, but how can we learn to rejoice in the suffering of life? We rejoice in the suffering because it is literally a setup for growth. Paul tells the Romans that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance produces character and character produces HOPE!

What this literally means is when we suffer we are in a position for growth! Think about the greatest athletes...no marathon runner starts off running the full distance! He or she starts with short distances and builds up their ability to run the full distance. How about now? Ready to rejoice in your suffering...it's getting you ready to go the distance!

3-Rejoice in your RECONCILIATION (Rom 5:6-11)
While we were ungodly (and if we are honest...ok, I won't go there), God gave us friendship! Now, that's a blessing! So let us rejoice!

Wait a minute...now week two is more challenging than just rejoicing! I said in the beginning that this week's objective is to not only discover the GIFT of reconciliation but also the NEED of reconciliation! We cannot create the CROSS with just a vertical line, but as we carry our CROSS we must get the horizontal in line also! Who in our lives do we need to offer TRUE RECONCILIATION to? It takes more energy to carry the anger...resentment...jealousy, etc. than to simply offer reconciliation.

In Genesis 45, we get a glimpse of what that reconciliation looks like. Joseph had been treated horribly by his own brothers out of their fear of who he could become. They sold him into slavery, but God was really setting him up-it was ALL GOOD! After reuniting with his brothers, he had the opportunity to get revenge. Instead, he offered TRUE RECONCILIATION! Genesis 45:15 tells us that he kissed his brothers, wept over them, and talked WITH them! During this season of growth, I challenge us to talk WITH those who have done us wrong or don't talk AT ALL! For if we believe like Joseph that God sent us ahead...that what people mean for our evil, God means for our good...then we will begin to see in this walk of reconciliation that IT'S ALL GOOD!

My prayer is in our gift of reconciliation with God and our need of reconciliation with people, our cup will overflow!

Blessings,
Pastor C