January 21 Service. The congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service. The Invocation/Lord’s Prayer were recited. The hymns that were sung were “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”, “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us”, and “Cleanse Me”. The service ended with “Go Now in Peace”. Linda Lyman is the organist each week. Lew Lyman leads the music for the congregation each week.
The sermon, titled “The Sins we Live With” and scriptures from 1 John 1:1-8, 2:1-2. Pastor Bonnie began by saying that sin is real and we as Christians need to stop pretending that it isn’t. It is a constant battle for Christians to fight against the sins of this world and in us. As Jesus has said “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. We allow too much of this world to guide us in our lives. God is telling us not to do that and to imitate Jesus. The sins of this world separate us from God, and through God’s love for each of us, He sent His Son, Jesus, to the cross as a sacrifice for our sins so we could have a true relationship with Him.
We have all heard of the seven deadly sins and we think these sins are from scripture, but even though they are named throughout the Bible, they have never been called deadly in scripture. A man, Pope Gregory I, in 600 A.D. compiled a list of biblical sins and called them deadly. In scripture there are the negative commands (sins) and there are positives (virtues). For every “thou shall not” there is a “thou shall” to live by.
We have all heard of the sins that are considered “deadly” by people. They are pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth. If you look at the ten commandments, when we put things of this world, money, jobs, cars, homes, etc. a head of God, that is a sin. Not honoring your mother and father, stealing, adultery, worshiping idols, using the Lord’s name in vain, and not holding the Sabbath as a holy day, and bearing false witness by lying or gossiping. These are all sins.
God wants us to change our way of thinking to glorify Him. We can do that by being humble instead of prideful, being generous instead of being greedy, showing kindness instead of being envious, by having patience instead of being angry, by showing that we have self-control in our lives instead of being lustful, by keeping our eyes on what God has given us instead of looking elsewhere. God wants us to have a balance of moderation of things in our lives instead of wanting everything, being a glutton. God wants us to show diligence in our lives, keeping us striving for perfection instead of being lazy or being a sloth. God doesn’t want us to waste what He has given us to live in His glory.
How do we live in this world and not let sin overtake us? We need to stop judging and talking about others. We need to stop speculating on the motives of others. Only God knows a person’s motives and why they are doing things. As Christians, we need to offer grace, as God gave us His grace when we needed it the most. As Christians, we need to remember our highest calling is to love and encourage one another, to focus and refine ourselves in His Word. The most important thing we can do as Christians, is to passionately pursue Jesus. We need to imitate Jesus in our everyday life. When we do that, others will see our faith in Jesus’ shine.
Announcements listed in the bulletin are that the congregation will be collecting canned soup for the Food Pantry in January. Bible Study: Tuesday at 1 p.m.
You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Tuesday’s from 9 a.m. to noon.
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