The goal is not what we think...

 Hey there, friends… Building on our thoughts from last week, what is the goal of our Christianity? Good Friday is one week from today; Easter just 9 days away. So what? What does this really—practically—do for us? Might the whole goal be something different than we think? Let’s talk in Deeper Thoughts below…

BUT first…

• EASTER is NEXT Sunday, April 5!!! Plan to join us and bring some family or friends to the most important celebration of the year… the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! We will have TWO identical 65-minute worship services Easter Morning at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. The Gospel will be clearly and sensitively presented for your unchurched loved ones, and we will all be challenged to experience the resurrected life that Jesus has for us!
  
  
  
  • Kids Connect will be offered at 10:30 a.m. ONLY, but kids are welcome with us in the main service either hour. Nursery is available at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m.
    
  • AND… join us for an Easter Egg hunt at 11:45 a.m.… age-appropriate hunts for toddlers, kids, and teens! Everyone come watch the fun!
    
    
    
• Are you interested in being baptized? Join us for an orientation to baptism THIS Sunday, March 29, right after church. For those who decide they would like to be baptized, we will schedule their specific baptism for a Sunday in the days ahead!
  
  
  
• Teens: Youth group THIS Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Snacks, connection, and digging deeper in the Bible! Let us know if your student needs a ride home.
  
  
  
  • AND… Youth Girls: We’re reading Esther over spring break! If you’d like to read along, let Jess know. We’ll read through portions each day, consider questions, and meet at the end of the week for discussion.
    
  
  
  
• Ladies: Mark your calendars for, Saturday, April 25 at 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. for breakfast and a prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more info and to RSVP!
  
  
  
• Help us support students in Sterling! We are collecting food, clothing, and personal supplies for under-resourced students at Park View High School and Sterling Middle School. Click here to download the list of needs and bring to church on Sunday!
  
  
  
• NEW Daily Six content THIS WEEK!! Join us for six minutes each day, Monday through Friday, as we continue our character-by-character study of how to find the heart of God… click here for our Daily Six webpage to find new content on Monday morning, OR… click here to sign up for our daily email reminders (if you’ve not already done so!).
  

OK… that’s it for today for you email skimmers and those who hate long emails…


BUT…


Some Deeper Thoughts


I asked you a direct and somewhat poignant question last week.


Here it is in case you missed it: Have you matured past your faith only being about confirming a ticket to heaven and having God answer prayers for your wants and needs? And, as I emphasized last week, this question is not to shame you at all. It is to offer you something amazingly better.


This Sunday, I want to go a layer deeper on something I think we can all relate with. It’s in the lane of forgiveness.


I believe that many of us—maybe most (*I know this is true of me)—began our faith journey with Jesus focused on the forgiveness of sins. When I was first introduced to Jesus, that was what I needed him for. I didn’t want to go to hell when I died. I knew I was sinning a bunch and didn’t want God to be mad. Someone told me Jesus died to forgive my sins, and I’d better ask him into my life so those sins would indeed be forgiven. Awesome deal. Count me in. I’m saved, praise God!!


As I got older, sin became less frequent. Maturity does a thing or two for us. But also as I got older, the less-frequent sins sometimes became more consequential.


Enter the story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. If you’ve been with us on The Daily Six this week, we have explored this tragic story of the “man after God’s heart” spiraling into tremendous, gut-wrenching, life-destroying sin. Adultery, cover-up, murder. It was a BIG deal.


On one front, I hope David’s story encourages you that even the most godly among us can still blow it—meaning that you are not a freak when sin trips you up. You haven’t lost your place with God. But it still matters. Sin is still a BIG deal.


And this is where we enter the goal of the story. Over the course of this week, we’ll move through the holiest cycles of the Christian calendar—from Palm Sunday through Good Friday into Easter. The meaning of these sacred days is unmistakable. Messiah has come as King of the Jews to die on a cross so our sins can be forgiven. Death could not hold him down; three days later he rose victorious over death and hell, and we have been set free!


But do we misunderstand the goal?

David knew that he needed forgiveness of sins. Check. So do I.


But wait… there’s more!


Forgiveness of sins is only the beginning. This Holy Week, let’s look at the life of David and how God met him in the most horrific cycles of his life. Read Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 in advance—two beautiful chapters of the Bible he wrote while tumbling through this worst of moments. We will see something sure to broaden the goal for us… and it will be far, far more abundant than just the forgiveness of our sins.


Curious? Then, let’s meet! Sunday, 10:00 a.m. sharp… Don’t be late… bring your Bible and a pen!!


Much love to you all…


Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend