Peace with God
As I write this article to you I am sitting on the deck of a very peaceful place… floating along the Mississippi River in one of those river cruise boats. Why am I here? I didn’t come here in order to write this article. Quite sometime ago my mother-in-law wanted to go on a trip with her children and their spouses, of which I am one of those who got to be included! So we are enjoying a peaceful, delightful, very “Huckleberry Finn” atmosphere trip floating a few days on the mighty Mississippi River. It is amazing how peaceful it can be floating on the water watching the world go by as you drink your coffee. The world is at war, the conflicts are everywhere, but on this deck, it is extremely peaceful. I have nothing to brag about as I was allowed to be part of this family 45 years ago… and right now I get a river float benefit.
Why do I tell you this story? This coming Sunday I will be teaching out of Romans 5 as we continue our journey we are calling “The Gospel Truth,” and there is this phrase that jumps out to me…
Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Then it goes on for many verses to describe to us the amazing peace that we find no matter what we may face. Finding peace of God it is not contingent upon making sure we are floating along peacefully on a beautiful river cruise. Life is NOT a river cruise. The peace of God can come even when we are facing the frightening and life altering rapids that on in our path.
As you prepare for this coming Sunday’s worship time together, I ask you to read ahead Romans 5:1-11. Spend some time mulling over this passage. I hope you are all writing out the book of Romans by hand. Ideally we are all in chapter 5 at this point. Writing this out by hand gives us an extra bonus of forcing us to think carefully about each word that is there. The verses this week are some of those verses that you want to think through slowly.
This coming Sunday will mark the end of what I am calling our 2nd major section of Romans. The following 4 Sunday’s in December we are going to Christmas month series that we have titled… “Unwrapping the name of Jesus.” We will move back into Romans in the new year.
I wrote you a Thanksgiving message last week. But one more time, this being Thanksgiving week, I thank God for you so much. We are a family built on the cornerstone of our united faith in Jesus Christ. God bless you.. I love you… and Happy Thanksgiving weekend!
See you Sunday
