God’s Peace be with you all.

Hebrews 9:23-28  ²³ Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these.  ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.  ²⁵ Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own;  ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.  ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment,  ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

            One of the questions that we (the leaders) asked the kids at camp was this:  “What does it mean and why does it matter that Jesus died on the cross?”  We had several unique answers to this question, with the main one being:  so we could be saved from our sins.  However, one thing we all found extremely powerful was how the kids viewed what their lives would be like if Jesus had not been on the cross.  Many of them talked about going to private religion based schools, and how they would not have done that.  Some talked about not even being able to come to camp (after all, would there be a Christian camp if there was no Christian religion?).  And some mentioned how very different their lives would be.

            So I ask you that question today:  What would your life be like if Jesus had not died for you?  Would you be a Jew?  Would you go to synagogue?  Would you sleep in on Sunday mornings?  Perhaps you would have a different view of sin in the world and in your life.  Perhaps, you just might not even care. 

            Whatever the case may be, I hope it gives you a chance to think about your life in a different way, and then realize how blessed we really are to have had God’s Son die on the cross for us.  It truly is remarkable how God did what he did so that all of creation might be reconciled to him.  All free of charge. 

In our prayers this week: Ann, Gail H., Daniel, Nancy (Carrie's Mom), Anna Hemmet (Lorie Schell's Mom)

God’s Peace,