What is the one thing
you can’t find anywhere in the world except in the Church of Jesus Christ?
Friendship
Support
Encouragement
Forgiveness of sins
Wisdom
Inspiration
Help for daily living
Hope
Each item in the list
is very important to leading a healthy life. And so we seek out friends to
support and encourage us. There are many wise people who offer inspiration,
hope and instruction for daily living. But who can legitimately give us the
forgiveness of sins? Who would be so bold as to say, “You can be certain, all
of your sins are forgiven before God”? If someone did say this to us, they
would have to be speaking in the place of God himself. For as bold as it seems,
it is exactly this role which the Church plays in the world—speaking in the
place of God.
On the evening of the
day Christ returned from the dead after being crucified, he showed himself
alive to his followers and gave them one command: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If
you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven. (John 20:23)” The greatest and most powerful
reason the Church exists is to offer the forgiveness Jesus won to a world
crushed by guilt.
Join us this Saturday
evening at 6:00 pm or Sunday morning at 10:00 am to discover why the Church, in
spite of all its problems, continues to be indispensable to the human race.
