Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you. 

Every single week when I when I get ready for services, part of what I do is put on my cross. This cross was given to me by a dear professor when I graduated from Seminary. He and his wife gave this to me. And it’s so special and meaningful to me.

And some point it broke.  One of the links broke. And so every week when I get it out, it is incomplete. I've considered so many times that I should just get a new link and fix it. My quick fix for the first time it happened was to use a paper clip and I just weave together. I have thought I want to trade this out get a new link. I  keep it like this because it's a reminder that it's not perfect… and I'm not perfect. It’s a reminder that we are held together by the cross. We're held together in God's grace and in his mercy

I think of this imperfection as a symbol of my sin that I can't fix. It doesn't go away. It’s really annoying on Sunday mornings. It's really annoying anytime. My sin is really annoying. It's really annoying on Sunday mornings. It's really annoying every day of the week.

Paul gets at this when he's writing about that inner conflict that he has…that inner war between his flesh and spirit… simultaneously Saint and Sinner. In his letter to the Romans the seventh chapter he has a lot of beautiful words to say about this struggle. And he really gets at the core of it. 

Romans 7:21-24

21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

We all as saints have that inner struggle that inner conflict. We know we want to do good. We know we want to adhere to God's law and to follow it and to love the Lord with all our might, with all our heart might and strength. And yet when we're given the choice in life, so often we do what we don't want to do. We find ourselves in sin once again. But by the grace of God our imperfection, our sinful lives are made right through the blood of Jesus Christ. We have him who lives in us. And so, as we lean into Christ who is in us… as we lean into his Word, knowing him more and more, and meditating on what he has done for us, we know that we are forgiven. We know that we are fixed not in our own doing, and not by anything we can ever do to fix ourselves, but we are fixed eternally through the blood of Jesus Christ. 

Heavenly Lord, we thank you that as often as we sin, you forgive us. We thank you so much that you fix us through yourself. Although we will struggle this of heaven, we know that eternally we are made righteous through you Lord. We ask that as we go about this day we would follow your will for us, and that we would cling to the promise that we have as your children… that we are forgiven and loved and saved. Lord we thank you for your sacrifice. We thank you for walking with us always. And we thank you that as great as our sin is, your grace is even greater, and continues to abound. Lord, help us to share this good Word with others today. We ask this in the grace-filled name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a wonderful rest of your week, and I will look forward to worshiping with you this Sunday. God bless!

Pastor Malinak