March 1st -- Up From Slavery

We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. Romans 6:6-8

*******

G'day Friends!

FNF will be held tonight at Mikhail & Stacy's Place

 

Our study leader will be Pastor Michel Rodriguez!

We will have a simple feast with fruit-- please, everyone bring fruit and juice to share-- .

Our study will begin at 7:30pm.

See you soon! God Bless!

*******

A simple thought to reflect on (inspired by this month's Precious Seed newsletter): 

Judas Iscariot sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. "Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus." Matthew 26:14

30 pieces of silver... 30 pieces of silver... where else is that amount in the Bible? Exodus 21:32 says, "...if the ox gores a slave, either male or female, the animal’s owner must pay the slave’s owner thirty silver coins, and the ox must be stoned. Jesus, in the eyes of one of his disciples and the eyes of the church leaders, was worth no more than a common slave. I read that this morning and it stuck with me. It made me think of one of my favorite scriptures in Philippians 2:6-8: Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.

My take home message... so far... from this is that our sense of self-worth, our history, our purpose, our hopes, our self-esteem should come from/be in  Christ. We, in our on efforts, are sinful and mortal (Romans 3:23) and bound as slaves to sin BUT! in Christ, we are worth so much... 1 Peter 1: 18-25 says, "For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but He has now revealed Him to you in these last days.

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory. 

You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the Truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 

As the Scriptures say, "People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever."

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.