Sermon | 1 John 3:1-7 & John 20:19-23 | "A New Beginning...As Children of God" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

Sermon | 1 John 3:1-7 & John 20:19-23 | "A New Beginning...As Children of God" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana “No one who abides in him sins.” Now…we can abide in Jesus and still be tempted, yes? We can even give into temptation, yes? We can even live outside of the justness of God’s system, yes? So we still struggle with sin… But we are also children of God abiding in the one who has no sin. We ARE children…but not complete and perfect. We HAVE Holy Breath, but we still are not perfected. This is our reality. Amen? And so here we are: limited, empowered, called, and children of God all at once. We are called to invest our lives—all of our lives—into the hope we have in Jesus. We will continue to learn and grow in our awareness on what it exactly it means to invest our whole life into the hope we have in Jesus. —I know more today than I did a few years ago —I’ll know more in a few years than I do right now…because of YOU One day we will see him as he is. As we anticipate our face-to-face meeting with our Lord and our knowledge will be complete, we are called to PREPARE ourselves right now. —to purify ourselves (together) —like preparing our home for a guest, we prepare our hearts and our relationships —like preparing ourselves in fine clothing to share space with royalty, we prepare our hearts and minds to share space with God We do this TOGETHER We are Easter people who come together as a community—a family—of God’s children. We come together as people who have a shared hope and shared identity. We come together as a people who are also imperfect and incomplete. But together…with our Holy Breath…we grow up together…we learn…we gain awareness…we become more pure…we become more perfect…in the shared life we live striving together in the way of God’s system of JUSTNESS. We confess to one another about our struggles and even lawlessness… We repent together as an act of trust in the hope that lies ahead of us… We strive to learn and grow so we can better identify what it means to step out of lawlessness and into justness. Together we learn and grow—because the difference between lawlessness and justness is rarely a clear-cut black and white situation. We have to work together to discern together… To grow together… To be vulnerable together… To teach each other… To learn from each other… To identify where we can know we are forgiven…and where we still have some things to learn about our lawlessness. We WILL grow in justness when we live our life together as the church. Much of our learning will come from making mistakes. —everything happens for a reason Just like any group of children, Children of God are growing and developing. We will learn through mistakes and suffering consequences. We will think we know when we do not. We will learn from those whom we least expect. The label of sin CANNOT be placed upon this process we live together. Sure, we will be lured into bad decisions we might label “sinful,” but if we learn from it and allow it to help us grow—then we are blessed in our shared life. Together, as a body… As a family… As a beloved community…we can live a life of justness with and in God through Jesus Christ. It is Christ’s Holy Breath which fills us and sustains us as we live and grow into perfection and purity. As long as we are moving in the right direction, we need not sweat the moments where we get tripped up and off-track. We lovingly share together, confess, learn, and grow… We are a people of forgiveness who dwell in the PEACE of Jesus Christ. So let us accept the invitation to trust the new beginning. To embrace our identity of being children of God… To be Easter people each and every day with and through one another.