February 24, 2021 6:00pm
Address: First Lutheran Church, 126 North Jefferson, Ottumwa, IA US 52501
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The Cross
The Lenten Cross, is a visual aid made of seven pieces. Each week, with each sermon topic, another piece will be added. When assembled, the cross with form two crosses locked together and inseparable. The one cross represents Christ’s, on which He died for our sin. The other represents our cross, on which we are to die to sin. The two are inseparable: justification (being made right with God) and sanctification (being made holy by God). Only in Christ are we free to become “dead to sin and alive to God.”
ABOUT THE “SEVEN DEADLY SINS”
Sin Defined. Scripture is more concerned about Sin than about sins. Sin is the disease: sins are the symptoms. Sins are like a scab or a wound – not the cause, but the sign that something is wrong. Sin is like a disease – that which causes illness or wounds.
True Healing. Only God can heal Sin which is the alienation and hostility that exists between God and humanity. The Good News is that Jesus, God’s Son., has bridged that divide. “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, “(2 Cor. 5:19). God has healed our disease; God has pardoned our transgressions – all through the Blood of the Cross. That is Good News.
Cure Often Refused. But not everyone accepts God’s cure. For some reason their hearts are hardened and they do not trust entirely in His grace offered through Christ.
What Christians Believe. We believe that Christ died for our Sin and our sins. The purchase price of our salvation has been paid in full. However, while Christ died for our Sin and our sins, we are now called to die to Sin and sins by no longer answering to its demands. That’s why Paul could write, “Consider yourself dead to sin,” (Rom 6:11)
Christ died for our sin – This is Grace
We are to die daily to sin – This is Holiness
Confidence. Knowing with absolute certainty about our “Victory by grace” we have power in which to resist Sin’s influence, and instead submit to God’s will. We are called to be holy.
The Way. There is a way in life that is Christian. It involves a conflict between the old sinful self and the new person of grace and holiness. It is through dying to sin that we live. This is how we can consider ourselves dead to:
Pride Feb. 17 Ash Wed. Philippians 2:1-12
Envy Feb. 24 Lent 2 Galatians 5:19-26
Anger March 3 Lent 3 Ephesians 4:25-32 and Matthew 5:22
Sloth March 10 Lent 4 Philippians 3:12 – 4:1
Avarice March 17 Lent 5 Matthew 6:19-33
Lust March 24 Lent 6 Matthew 5:28 and John 13:34-35
Gluttony April 1 Maundy Thurs. Proverbs 30:8-9 and Philippians 3:1