Undid

"The free gift following many trespasses brought justification," Romans 5:16.

What free gift? Grace. God's grace. God's generosity. God's grace is not like the condemnation of Adam's one trespass. Why not? Because Adam's one sin spread death to everybody. But God's gift spread out even further. Everybody's own sins kept on multiplying making things worse and worse. But God's grace grew exponentially beyond all the sins of world piled up into a huge garbage heap. Yes. Jesus did one good thing: he gifted his life to God's will. And Jesus' one life undid all the condemnation of all people's many trespasses. Free gift: Grace. Forgiveness. To count people as righteous, not as sinners. Sky kingdom.

Speaking with a brother or sister today we tell of Jesus whose life yielded grace for us. And, together, we shout thanksgivings to God whose mercy is greater than his judgment.

Murderer

"You will not die," Genesis 3:4.

Says who? The serpent in Eden's garden. To whom? to the woman and the man. Against whom? Against God. Against God, who had said, If you eat from this tree you'll die. Yeah, then the serpent went on to say: In fact, if you eat it, you'll be right smart just like God. So. Who ya gonna believe? Well, here we are. Right smart as God (not!). Can't figure out how to stop wars that nobody wants. How to make phones that don't get obsolete. Can't figure out how to stop ocean pollution. How to make climate do what we want. How to stop disease. How to live and not die. Yes, mainly that. Jesus, tons of years later, said of that devil serpent: He's a murderer, he's a liar and he's like the lies he tells.

As we visit with a brother or sister today, we confess Jesus our only hope for life beyond death. And, together, we believe God when he tells us that we may life through faith in his son.

Need

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love," Psalm 51:1.

Yes, dear God, I need your mercy! I need your washing from iniquity! I need your cleansing from sin! Transgressions. Sins. Evil doings. I am well aware of these. And, when all's said and done, it's all against you. yes it is. You, O God, are right in your judgment. You're blameless in calling me out. I repent. Please forgive. Thank you, God, for washing me. Thank you for purging me. Thank you for creating in me a clean heart. Thank you for hiding your face from my sins. Thank you for creating in me a right spirit. It's all you! It's all about you, O God. Thank you, O God, for your overflowing mercy. For your unrelenting love. For Jesus, who died for my sins and whom you raised to make me right with you. That I may live for him. Praise you, O God!

We meet today with a brother or sister in the enduring love of God. And, together, we give him thanks for receiving Jesus as our sin-offering. Sky kingdom.

Wrong

"Where your treasure is, there's your heart, too," Matthew 6:21.

So says Jesus. So how to make heaven our treasure? Well, what did Jesus say? (I mean, he's the one that started this conversation.) Do good things for people when nobody's looking. Don't do to impress others. Help needy people without telling anybody else. Don't do hypocrisy. Give secretly. Pray when nobody's listening in. Pray without showing off cool religious phrases. Forgive people who've done you wrong. When you're doing religion, look normal. Don't put on a spiritual looking mask. Invest in heaven, not earth. God sees the secrets, hears the quietness, grants forgiveness, knows true worship. And he will reward with great interest. Sky kingdom.

When we visit with a brother or sister today, we make heaven our treasure. And, together, we bow in thanksgiving to God who rewards the intents of our true hearts with grace.

Total

"Return to me with all your heart," Joel 2:12.

To whom? To God. Says who? God. And why return? Because God is gracious. Merciful. Slow to anger. Because he abounds in steadfast love. He relents over disaster. How to return to God? With fasting. Weeping. Mourning. Breaking hearts. Yes. And. Telling God that pagans wonder if his people's God is careless. Why? Because God is jealous. (Jealous?! Yes. For you. For us.) Because God's jealousy leads his compassion. And God will send plenty blessings. To his people who return to him humbly.

We receive a brother or sister today setting pride aside, forgiving each other. And, together, we give thanks for God's total forgiveness of us in Jesus' sacrifice.

Messengers

"Be reconciled to God," 2 Corinthians 5:20.

Be at peace with God. Tie back in with God. God pleads for reconciliation. God implores us. God begs us. OK. So. How does God plead, beg, implore us? He does so through ambassadors of Christ. Envoys of Christ. Messengers of Christ. These agents preach that God was in Christ reconciling the world (the world!) to himself. God entrusted to these ministers the word of reconciliation. The reconciling message. And what is that message? This: For our sake, God made sinless Christ become a sin-offering so that we become God's righteousness. In Christ. God does not count our trespasses against us. We are a new creation. Grace.

We visit with a brother or sister today friends of God and of each other, in Christ. And, together, we praise the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has made him our God and father, too.

Mountain

"We were with him on the holy mountain," 2 Peter 1:18.

We, who? Peter, James, John. With whom? With Jesus. What mountain? The one where a shining cloud settled at the top over them and Jesus changed from regular looks to a blinding dazzling light and Moses and Elijah dead for ages past also showed up to visit with Jesus about his death and resurrection in Jerusalem and God's voice sounded through the cloud and said, This is my son, my chosen, listen to him! That mountain. Made holy by the Presence. Where God affirmed his eternal gospel to bring forgiveness and reconciliation by grace through faith in Jesus.

Seeing a brother or sister today, we remind each other of God's redeeming purpose. And, humbled together, we give thanks that Jesus yielded his will to the father's to yield for us marvelous grace.

Animal

"He took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people," Exodus 24:7.

Who did? Moses. Where? At the foot of Mt. Sinai. When? Before God carved the two famous stone tablets of the law. So what happened after the people heard Moses read the Ten Commandments (and more) from the book? The people said, We'll do all that God spoke. And then what? Well, just before the reading, young men had slaughtered a bunch of bulls as peace offerings. Moses threw half of the blood onto an altar. He collected the other half of the blood in tubs. OK. So? What happened after the reading? Moses tossed the rest of the blood onto the people. He said: Look - the blood of the covenant God made with you through these words!

We visit with a brother or sister today knowing that our hearts have been sprinkled clean, not with animal blood but, with Jesus' blood. And, together, we give thanks for Jesus' sacrifice telling of God's grace and canceling all curses.

Upright

"I will praise you with an upright heart," Psalm 119:7.

Yes, Lord God, Jehovah! We praise you with the fruit of lips that acknowledge your name! And. We praise you as we walk in your instructions. We find your blessing in harmony with your witness. We praise you in seeking you out! We praise you by eschewing wrong. We praise you and follow your directives diligently. We praise you in keeping your training. We find no shame fixing our eyes on your teachings. Not at all. Instead, we find your blessing. We find your presence. Bless you, O God, you remain steadfast and true forever!

When we see a brother or sister today, we praise God for his goodness, his righteousness. And, together, we give thanks for Christ whose goodness flows out from the cross to wash us. Praise you, God!

Presence

"Take off your sandals, you're on holy ground," Exodus 3:5.

Holy ground. Sacred space. Extraordinary place. Special. Consecrated. Not your everyday digs. Sacrosanct (meaning: especially special, holier than plain old holy). Hallowed. Eternal. Divine. Compared to what? Common. Vulgar. Messed up. Same old same old. Profane. Everyday. Not a big deal. Mundane. Seen one seen'em all. Temporal. Ordinary. Secular. So. What makes for holy ground? Divine presence. Wherever God's seated. Or standing. Or building. God's house. Wherever God shows up. Don't sully God's home with dirty soles. Take'em off. Holy ground: God's temple which you (and you, and you, and, yes, you, too) are. Church of Christ.

When meeting a brother or sister today, we see God's presence in them, so we tread meekly on holy ground. And, together, humbly, we give thanks for standing in the Presence supported by the foundation that cleansed our souls: Christ Jesus.

Blocks

"You yourselves like living stones are being built up," 1 Peter 2:5.

You. You, who come to the Lord. You, who believe in Jesus. You. God laid the cornerstone for his house: Jesus. Jesus, not good enough for human builders. Rejected by human conventions. Yet chosen. Precious to God. Jesus, the stone that lives. Becomes the corner stone. The key stone. The living stone. Of what? Of God's own estate house. And you, with Jesus, like living stones, God builds up into his house, his own spiritual house. God's building his eternal dwelling place. God's very own possession. So. Behave honorably among peoples who accuse you of evil. So that they will glorify God on visitation day because of your good deeds.

We build each other up, brothers or sisters, by God's power and election. And, together, we give thanks to God for taking rejected, broken blocks to create a glorious, imperishable home.

Pickings

"You've heard it said to old-time people," Matthew 5:21.

What did Jesus say we had heard? These things: Don't murder. Don't do adultery. Don't divorce without legal release. Don't swear to God. (And more.) Clearly, a righteous person pays attention to these things. But Jesus says it takes a lot more rightness to make righteous than those easy pickings. For example: Don't get angry, but make things right right now. Don't look at a woman despoiling her, because that's adultery. Don't divorce, because you become the cause of her adultery. Don't make any oath, if you say Yes, then Yes it is, if you say No, then No it is. Anything less comes from the evil one. Anything less makes no one righteous. (Wow. Being right is tough.)

We visit humbly with a brother or sister today remembering something else we heard: Christ is our righteousness. And, together, we give thanks to God who takes Jesus' complete righteousness and covers us with it.

Roly-poly

"You are God's building," 1 Corinthians 3:9.

You, who? You, all people in Christ. You, we, the congregation. The church. And some of us (many?) are babies that haven't yet matured. Our infancy shows when we say things like, I follow ... (... name anybody, maybe an old-time favorite elder or preacher or teacher or ... whomever ...). Instead of mature brothers and sisters, it shows we're roly-poly babies rooting for favorite religious personages. Just like every other fleshly human. No. It must be all about God who gives growth, and not about the temps slinging mortar. The congregation is what God's building. Jesus forms the foundation for God's temple, the church. The Spirit dwells in God's temple, the congregation. We mature into him. It's about God's labor, not human hands.

We stand firmly today with a brother or sister on what Jesus did through his obedient sacrifice. And, together, we praise God's grace to be building us into his home. Amazing! Sky kingdom.

Moses

"I have set before you today life and good, death and evil," Deuteronomy 30:15.

Who's talking? Moses. Who's he talking to? Israelites, descendants of Jacob. What's he talking about? God's commandments, statutes, and rules. So what's about life and death? Moses says that if they do the law, they and their descendants will live in the promised land with God's great blessings. But if they don't listen but go after other gods, they will not live long in the land and they will die. Moses placed a blessing and a curse in front of the people. Obey God and live. Turn away and die. Like it or not. The curse is a big deal. A very big deal. God wasn't kidding when he kicked them out of Eden. Or out of the promised land. Or Satan out of heaven.

We meet with a brother or sister today, redeemed from the curse through the blood of Jesus' cross. And, together, we give thanks to God for establishing a new covenant of reconciliation through Jesus' faithful obedience.

Smashing

"A light shines in the darkness," Psalm 112:4.

For whom? For God-fearers. They gave compassion. Mercy. Justice. But evil ones despised them. Enemies gnashed their teeth against those attentive to God's commands. No matter! We will fear you, God, and will do the right thing anyway. We will give generously. We will deal fairly. We will stay the course to goodness. We will not fear bad news. We will keep on trusting in you, Lord. Our hearts rest firm. Our hearts remain steady. O God, we hold on to your smashing triumph over all powers of the evil one in the cross of Jesus. Your light melts the evil and darkness away. We praise you, Jehovah God!

We see the Lord's light shining through a brother or sister today fading away dark fears. And, together, we praise you, God, through your son, Jesus.

Dressed

"Dress out in the weapons of light," Romans 13:12.

So what do these lightsabers look like? Mainly, they look like love. Like this: Love your neighbor as yourself. Like, Do no harm. Like, Real love. Like, Hate evil stuff. Like, Show your brotherly/sisterly affection. Like, Be first to give honor to each other. Like, Keep zeal fired up. Like, Be on fire with the Spirit. Like, Serve the Lord. Like, Be happy in hope. Like, Choose perseverance in tough times. Like, Keep on praying. Like, Help each other out. Like, Show hospitality. Yeah. That's the armor of light. Sky kingdom.

We encourage a brother or sister today out of the passing darkness, and into the dawning light. And, together, we walk thankfully in God's new day, dressed out in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now

"You are light in the Lord," Ephesians 5:8.

You? You, who? You, who are growing up in every which way into Christ. You, who walk carefully by Jesus, you who, having been seated with Jesus beside God, who, having been resurrected with Jesus, who, having been made alive together with Jesus - we who, before Jesus, were dead in our sin. We, then children of rage. That's who, you. Us. But now children of light! So we walk with care, with wisdom, with shine, with thanksgiving all the time and every where. Light in the Lord. Sky kingdom.

We submit reverently to each other today, brother or sister, as we, together, offer thanksgivings to God our father in the light of our Lord Jesus Christ.

t

"I have not come to abolish the law or the prophets," Matthew 5:17.

Who said that? Jesus. Jesus did. Jesus said, Don't even think that. No. Instead (Jesus said), I came to fill them full out. Until the sky ended and the earth ended, not a dot on an i would ever fade away from the law until every single t got crossed. (He said.) Yep. Truly. Not until he fulfilled their every detail. Because the law demanded a lot. A lot more than the best goodness the best people produced. And whoever produced less than a lot more, was cursed. Would never enter the sky kingdom. Never. It took a lot more goodness. He said. So. He did every bit of goodnes that could be done. And more. And died, crossing the last t. And ended the curse.

Today we encourage a brother or sister to keep on shining Christ's light through His good works. And, together, we thank our God Jesus took the curse away and gave the blessing instead. Sky kingdom.

Gave

"God planned this wisdom for our glory," 1 Corinthians 2:7.

What did God plan wisdom for? For our glory. So that we shine. Cool! So what's the wisdom? It's a secret wisdom. Hidden. No wise man ever figured it out. No passing power in the skies even dreamed it. Yeah, God designed this wisdom before creation. A wisdom rooted in the depths of God's mind. Yep. That wisdom. All right, already - what is this wisdom? Here it is, God's wisdom: Jesus Christ and him crucified. The Lord of glory. God's power. Indeed! God's power that gives us glory. Preach it, preachers!

We share God's wisdom with a brother or sister today for the glory of his grace. And, together, we shine in thanksgiving to our God for Jesus who gave himself for us.

Lighting

"If you do these things then your light will shine like the dawn," Isaiah 58:8.

Sometimes people do religious stuff: follow dieting or fasting rules, bow down in worship places, humble themselves in prayer, and so on. But these things don't get God's attention. So we wonder, Why not? Because, God said, the religious activities can hardly be meaningful to God when we still quarrel with each other. When we place heavy burdens on one another. When we point accusing fingers. When we don't share with folks who haven't got. So, God's solution to the problem: lift the burdens; share food, and shelter, and clothing. Ah! Then our prayers make sense to God and he will answer our calls. He'll say: Here I am.

As we share with a brother or sister today, God's light shines through like the dawn into the darkness. And, together, we humbly say Thank You, Jesus, for lighting us with your wealth. Sky kingdom.

Behaves

"Lord, who may live on your holy mountain?" Psalm 15:1.

Simply, an innocent person. Whoever does the right thing. Whoever speaks truth from the heart. Who never lies about others. Who does right by neighbors. Who does no gossip. Who does not respect haters. Who honors who honors God. Who keeps a promise - even when it hurts. Who does not take money to disadvantage the innocent.  That's who. (That's what it says.) That's who will never be destroyed from God's presence. Who behaves in God's community.

We cheer on a brother or sister today to holiness. And, humbled together, forgiven by Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we press on up to God's heights.

Unholy

"The Word became flesh and lived with us," John 1:14.

The Word that was in the beginning. The Word that was with God. The Word that was God. The Word through whom everything that was made was made. That's the Word that became fleshed out in a body that God had prepared for him. So. Does All-powerful God associate with weakness? Does Almighty God sully his hands with human pollutions? Does God, Creator of worlds, engage human slop? The biblical witness says: Yes. He joins uselessly broken humans. (O, yes, we are broken! and we know it. despite all our pretentions). And God cleans and heals. And God makes vulgar humans holy. Without becoming unholy himself. That's how great God is.

We meet a brother or sister today, a saint, made so by God's wisdom. And, together, we praise God through Jesus, who became one of us.

Glide

"Though many, we are one body in Christ," Romans 12:5.

Church. It's just like a human body. Like we teach our toddlers: Here are your eyes! Where are your ears? Show me your nose. Lots of parts make up one body. Each part has its own function without which the body stumbles headlong. God assigned the parts and their functions. Part and function. God did. His wisdom. (Not ours.) Yes. The church remains because of God's wisdom. And to each person God assigned a function so that the body of Christ might glide forward in harmony and purpose. Sky kingdom.

We meet with a brother or sister today recognizing in each other God's reciprocal gifts for us all. And, together, humbly, we give thanks to God for our head, his wisdom, Christ Jesus.

Counts

"People will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me," Matthew 5:11.

So said Jesus. Life's like that sometimes in the kingdom of heaven. We like the part of the sky kingdom where Jesus and his followers basically take over the world in love and rule harmoniously in a peaceable kingdom for ever. But between here and there the sky kingdom isn't all fun and games: sometimes really bad things happen to good people. But Jesus said when the bad things happen, we're blessed. Woah! Blessed? Happy? Yes. How so? because he's got a great reward prepped and waiting for us in the sky.

We comfort a distressed brother or sister today with God's wisdom and power. And, together, following him, we thank our Lord for the assurance that he's got us covered where it counts.