Feb 19

On Being Proud that I Sin Less

Luke 7:36-50

We have two characters in contrast in this week’s text.  One, referred in the gossipy way, “a sinful woman.”  The other a man named Simon who was a member to the sect of Pharisees.  Both wanted to see Jesus.  Simon invited Jesus to his house for dinner.  The unnamed woman snuck in uninvited.  Simon continues the gossip about the woman and Jesus.  If Jesus was a prophet, as they acclaimed in 6:16, he would have nothing to do with “that kind of a woman.”  Both Simon and the woman knew they needed God’s forgiveness; the woman a great deal, Simon not so much.

The woman’s sin is not identified, but our gossipy minds immediately think “prostitute.”  We often identify those with sins that we look down on as “the worst kind.”  And since we would not engage in that sin, we are much better than them.

Forgiveness is a great leveler.  There’s an old saying, “the ground at the Cross is level.”  In other words, we all come to the Cross on the same level.  But often we cast a sideways glance at others, and with our gossipy minds judge them as the worst sinner in town. 

Thank God that you or I have not participated in certain, vile sins.  But that does not mean that we do not need the same level of forgiveness as others.  Forgiveness is not a quantity to measure out.  It is something that God gives out freely, fully, and completely to all who seek him.  So, we need to put out of our gossipy minds the idea that others need more forgiven than me.  Instead, we need to rejoice that Christ receives all, and offers complete forgiveness to all.

Pastor Greg

Feb 19

On Being Proud that I Sin Less

Luke 7:36-50

We have two characters in contrast in this week’s text.  One, referred in the gossipy way, “a sinful woman.”  The other a man named Simon who was a member to the sect of Pharisees.  Both wanted to see Jesus.  Simon invited Jesus to his house for dinner.  The unnamed woman snuck in uninvited.  Simon continues the gossip about the woman and Jesus.  If Jesus was a prophet, as they acclaimed in 6:16, he would have nothing to do with “that kind of a woman.”  Both Simon and the woman knew they needed God’s forgiveness, the woman a great deal, Simon not so much.

The woman’s sin is not identified, but our gossipy minds immediately think “prostitute.”  We often identify those with sins that we look down on as “the worst kind.”  And since we would not engage in that sin, we are much better than them.

Forgiveness is a great leveler.  There’s an old saying, “the ground at the Cross is level.”  In other words, we all come to the Cross on the same level.  But often we cast a sideways glance at others, and with our gossipy minds judge them as the worst sinner in town. 

Thank God that you or I have not participated in certain, vile sins.  But that does not mean that we do not need the same level of forgiveness as others.  Forgiveness is not a quantity to measure out.  It is something that God gives out freely, fully, and completely to all who seek him.  So, we need to put out of our gossipy minds the idea that others need more forgiven than me.  Instead, we need to rejoice that Christ receives all and offers complete forgiveness to all.

Pastor Greg

Jan 30

Rules, Rules, Rules

Luke 6:1-11

This past week I was listening to a TV commentator that often refers to his Christian faith, and he said that Christianity is a “rules-based religion.” He used the Ten Commandments to support his assertion.
Was he right or was he wrong? In Luke 6:1-11, Jesus is accused of breaking the big rules, breaking the Fourth Commandment about keeping the Sabbath. First part is about hunger and the second is about healing. This helps us think about the issue of Christianity being a “rules-based” religion.
I would simply say that Christianity is not a rules-based religion. The only thing that makes you a Christian is your belief in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As far as rules we have the rule of Love, the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. We have seen throughout history we have seen the problems caused by people adding rules to the Christian faith.
But don’t think that means the Christian does not have a strong moral basis. The moral and ethical foundation of a Christian are based in a system of hierarchy seen in the Law of God. What do we value most? What is to be our goals in life? And what standard do we use to evaluate what is right and what is wrong? There is a standard of good and evil in Christianity, and that is what actions validate or
undermine that image of God in the other human being. Jesus says in our text, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?”
Human thriving the ultimate good, so this is a foundational principle in our oral system. This is where we must exercise deep humility because it is not what I think is for human thriving, but what is the meaning of “love my neighbor as myself.”
We do back away from rule keeping forms that Christians practice. But we also must not practice a form of Christianity is without morals, ethics, and standards of good and evil.


Pastor Greg


This Sunday is Scout Sunday where we welcome our Scouts and their families to join us for worship. Make sure that we let our guests know they are welcomed and how much we appreciate the word of the
Scout Troop.

Jan 17

Jesus Brings Good News—To Them?

As I read this week’s text, I am taken back to a previous congregation. It was an
older congregation, living in the by-gone days before the town began its rapid
increase in minority population. We had a “mixed-race” couple that began
attending the church, and the African-American husband became one of our
ushers, and served communion. The gossipers in the back could barely hold their
tongues, until the unforgivable happened. The man did not wear a tie one day as
he took up the offering. “We can’t have that! We have to uphold the dignity of
worship?” They were allowing their latent racism to be masked by a defense of the holiness of the place of worship.
Jesus defends the holiness of God by giving examples of God’s grace to the Widow from Zarephath and Naman the Leper. That made them so mad that they
seemingly wanted to break the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not murder.”
How do we limit the “who” that Christ came to save? The way we counter this in
the church is to acknowledge that all are welcome, and respect the Christianity of even “those” kind of people. But we like to draw lines, set up barriers, and shun those that we feel are not worthy of God’s salvation.
We needed a Savior for all—because I am probably one of “those” kind of people.
Galatians 4:4-7 (expanded)- But when the set time had fully come, God sent his
Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to son ship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, or


· a gentile, from the wrong family,
· of the wrong gender,
· from the wrong nation,
· from the wrong side of the tracks,
· love the wrong kind person,
· raised with wrong belief,
· with the wrong kind of past,
· or just not worth loving


but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

We need to be amazed by the scandalous grace of God, that would even save a
“sinner such as I.”

Pastor Greg

Watch for closings and delay messages
during the winter months on TV Channels 3, 5 and 8.

Twinsburg First Congregational Church