Grace, Grace, Marvelous Grace!

Psalm 51---sin and Grace:

Rev. Lois Muller preached this morning on Sin and Grace...We don't often hear "sin" spoken of in our church. It is missing the mark of perfection- a sensing of the need to be restored- cleansed and scrubbed clean from the vileness that separates us from the peaceful and ideal acceptance of a loving God.  We wear masks to hide from others, God, and ourselves and depending upon our faith journey, the path to grace can be self flaglatilon, denial of behavior that hurts another, God or ourself. We can  claim we have no acceptance of sin, (which of us would rather say we didn't believe in Sin) than to acknowledge the need to be purged from it?

I acknowledge my brokenness; my shame, my neediness, my need for an experience of not just knowing God loves me, but feeling that love that transforms me all the way down to my toes! I want more than a God who says, Go and sin no more...I want a God who wraps arms around me and whispers, I was there all the time!  I saw your darkness, your sadness, your shame, your anger, and yes, your tears. I saw it all, and nothing you could ever do, or have ever done, can separate you from my love and Grace.  

I long to hold you through the night, to restore the years of aloneness that plague the isolated recesses of your memory...I long to hold you redemptively, even in those times that you repeated the same sins, time after time because you felt no one really cared.  Will you let me in? Will you let my Spirit cleanse and restore?

Will you know Grace?

Oh this is not the sermon Lois preached, but this is the sermon I heard.

Thoughts on Memorial Day

I was overwhelmed with "memorial"day thoughts. Not of just the military lives that have been lost over the years defending our freedoms, but of those in my blood line who have passed from this life to the next. I didn't travel to grave sites around the country, I just looked at pictures on my walls, and items acquired from loved ones upon their passing. Everything in my home has a story and a history. I have a Last supper painting from my Aunt Max; a childhood picture from my Aunt Grace, an antique bottle and photo plate from Arlene, A family picture from Star with all his children, a bottle from my mother, a vase from my father that he gave to my mother, a letter from my brother, a stuffed animal from Des, and the list goes on.
I was reminded this morning as I looked around the house that all these memories are crammed into one small brain...because for the most part, no one knows their importance or history besides me! And, it's so true of everyone who reads this blog. There are memories, trinkets and items of great emotional investments known only to you...and to our Creator. I was sitting in my chair with a hot cup of coffee Talking to Jesus about people I miss, and people who are still in my life and I realized He is the one person who knows all the stories and even all the things I've forgotten. I treasure the home where Becky and I share our love, and God's presence, and even tho she thinks I have too many collections, She is so much a part of my walk down memory lane this memorial Day. Some of my most special Turtles are gifts from Becky and I'm blessed that she is a part of my life and can share the memories.
That's all for now.