Message from our Locum – Joan Kilpatrick – March 2015
Dear friends
I can’t believe we’re into March! Seems no time since it was Christmas and here we are in Lent, heading rapidly towards Easter!
During this time of Lent we’re running a Bible Study called Words from Calvary and it’s great to see so many people coming along, we even had a few visitors last Sunday who had seen the Study advertised on our website, there was also a young Mum and her son who came – such a joy so have folks joining us during these times. The first two weeks have been challenging for all of us, the topics covered have been forgiveness and hope, words given by Jesus as He took on His ultimate task to become our Saviour on the Cross.
These words, forgiveness and hope, really do belong together when we consider how Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who had brought Him to this point of death and the conversation He had with the repentant thief who asked to be remembered when Jesus entered heaven. Jesus promised the thief he would be with Him in paradise.
No matter how we struggle with life there is hope in those messages from Jesus – our sins are forgiven when we recognise the willingness of our Lord to shed His blood for us and to know that we are welcome in His heavenly home.
So many don’t have this hope or the knowledge of forgiveness and how it sets us free from the constraints of the world.
On our journey with Jesus, both through Sunday mornings and the Bible Study, there is much to be aware of, to learn and to look at with fresh vision. We have the valuable gift of God’s Word to tell us the events of that time in Jerusalem where those accounts of all that happened were witnessed and written down so we might come to an understanding of the miraculous events of that time.
I hope that, together, we will find Jesus as a source of strength and courage as we walk with Him to Calvary and His Resurrection, that no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done we too have the same forgiveness and hope waiting for us if we are willing to let go of those ‘things’ in our lives that hold us back from the Cross. Now is the time to let it go, let Jesus take any burden you have and turn it to dust so you can see Him in all His glory and know that you are welcome in His presence now and always.
Lenten Blessings
Joan