I have learned the hard way that airline regulations are one of those unbendable things in life.  It all began when I packed all my groovy vacation clothes, my downsized bathroom items and my abundance of shoes into my favorite roller suitcase only to step up to the airline’s scales and find out my bag was overweight.  Not fun.  So to lighten my load, I look in my bag to decide what to cram in my carryon bag, what to wear on my body or what to leave in the airport.  When your load’s too heavy, it’s hard to know what to leave behind.

The good news is that when Jesus was packing up sins to carry on the cross, He didn’t leave any behind.  There were no regulations telling Jesus to put some sins back.  As a matter of fact, His Father required He take them all.  Just think of how many sins Jesus had to carry on to the cross.  He looked down at the sins of the people nailing him to the cross and took their sins onto His load.  Then he added all the sins He saw down the road like the sins of the inquisition, the holocaust and the sins I’ll commit next week.   With one giant swoop he loaded up all the sins of the world and went up on the cross to die for each and every sin.  Jesus is a great packer.  He didn’t miss a single sin.

And yet, too often we think He did.  Sometimes we think that hideous thing we saw on the news is too big a sin to have fit in Jesus’ load.   Or maybe Jesus forgot that sin someone did to you that hurts so much you know Jesus couldn’t forgive it.  And then there’s the sin you did that is so filled with shame that you think Jesus wouldn’t even want to forgive that one.  But He did.  Jesus carried every sin onto the cross.

Romans  5:8 tells us that “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Jesus knew our sins before He got on the cross.  That’s why He went.  Jesus died on the cross for the sins you have done and the sins you will do.

Don’t slip into believing Jesus didn’t get the whole job done.    Don’t think “If Jesus could see this sin, He would turn away from me” Or “ Surely for as long as they have been sinning, Jesus is done with them. “  Or “If Jesus loves me, he won’t forgive them.”  Jesus died for all the sins of the world, even the ones you don’t understand. As humans there may be sins we think are unforgivable but other than not believing in Christ, Jesus has forgiven everything.

Don’t carry around the worry of thinking that Jesus missed a sin when He went on the cross.  Nothing was left behind.  He followed His Dad’s regulations to a “t” and didn’t miss any sins.  Not a single one.

OK, this book may only be for Bible nerds like me but it’s the coolest book.  It’s called the Bible Timeline and it not only shows references for the entire Bible laid out in chronological order, it also tells you what was happening in the other ancient civilizations at the time.  Did you know that in the same time period when the Olympic games began Jonah took his ride in a big fish?  You can see all of Biblical history laid out in this giant book.  Did I mention that the book is at least 2 feet by 1 foot?  AND THEN, the pages unfold into a 8 foot long time line that can stretch across the room.

Your kids might get a kick out of this book.  It lends itself to a feeling of discovery.  Maybe this is not the book for you but maybe you know a Bible nerd that would like one for Easter.  See, Bible nerds are not that hard to buy for…

http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Timeline-Thomas-L-Robinson/dp/0840768427

God is Bigger Than…Your Imperfections:
Become a Fisher of Men through the Study of the Apostle Peter

Daily pressures, definite personalities and past mistakes seem like good reasons to not be a candidate to touch lives for Christ.  Amazingly, God sees each of your faults as an asset.  Like the Apostle Peter, our imperfections do not eliminate us from our calling to serve the Lord, they merely define it.  Study the interactions between Jesus and Peter to learn how Christ can use your weaknesses for His strength.  Discover not only how to discern Christ’s path for you but find the focus and strength to follow through.

WHEN: For 8 Sundays beginning April 3rd from 9:30-10:30AM

LOCATION: St Paul Lutheran, Des Peres, MO
12345 Manchester Road,
Saint Louis, MO
(314) 822-0447 ‎

PRESENTER: Karen Tripp MS
Speaker, Author, Counselor
www.Godisbiggerthan.com
Author: God is Bigger Than Your Cancer

REGISTRATION: 314-814-0044

BIBLE STUDY TOPIC: God is Bigger Than…Your Imperfections:
Become a Fisher of Men through the Study of the Apostle Peter

Daily pressures, definite personalities and past mistakes seem like good reasons to not be a candidate to touch lives for Christ.  Amazingly, God sees each of your faults as an asset.  Like the Apostle Peter, our imperfections do not eliminate us from our calling to serve the Lord, they merely define it.  Study the interactions between Jesus and Peter to learn how Christ can use your weaknesses for His strength.  Discover not only how to discern Christ’s path for you but find the focus and strength to follow through.

LOCATION: St Paul Lutheran, Des Peres, MO
12345 Manchester Road,
Saint Louis, MO
(314) 822-0447 ‎

PRESENTER: Karen Tripp MS
Speaker, Author, Counselor
www.Godisbiggerthan.com
Author: God is Bigger Than Your Cancer

REGISTRATION: 314-814-0044

This song is classic Amy Grant.  Her sweet mellow voice so gently proclaims the truths about God that I need to keep center stage in my life. God loves my praises on Sundays but how he longs to hear me call out to Him.  And yet I too often hold back my yearning for God.  Look at all the ways Amy sees us reaching out to God:

God loves a lullaby
In a mother’s tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah

You don’t want to miss this beautiful Amy Grant song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5kx3xqmg0

“Be firm in your presentation of God’s truth.  If you simply look for points that you and another can agree on, you will probably talk a lot about “love” and “God”, but rarely about Jesus.”

Do you like a good cop mystery with an excellent plot, rich characters and a touch of romance to keep it interesting?  I do and I really liked Shepherd’s Fall.  W.L. Dyson has written this first installment in the Prodigal Recovery Series set in Baltimore around a group of bounty hunters which try to do what is right when surrounded by so many things that are wrong.  Shepherd’s Fall focus’  on Nick Shepherd, owner of the business and tough guy gone soft.  Through the disappearance of his little sister, death of his dad and divorce of his wife Nick let’s his pride run his life.  Eventually his well-meaning but arrogant decisions put his family in danger which leaves plenty of suspense and intrigue.

I love the way Dyson lets the development of the characters reveal all the twists and turns.  The twist make sense.  Sometimes I feel robbed by a mystery author when the twist comes from some obscure place the book has never developed.  Shepherd’s Falls gives the reader characters with depth and a plot that makes sense.  Can’t wait until #2 in the series!

http://www.wandadyson.com/books.html

Were you ever sent to the Principal’s office?  It usually starts with a test. Not for you, but for the teacher.  You might have thought “I wonder what will happen if I start kicking the desk in front of me?” OR  “I wonder what will happen if I snitch the pudding from the guys lunch next to me” OR “If I throw a crayon across the room?”  Typically these behaviors lead to the teacher keeping you in from recess, giving you extra assignments or even telling you to sit in the hallway.  Unfortunately, students roll from one testing behavior to another until the teacher reaches her limit.  They’re “done with you”, “finished”, “fed up” and before you can find a fitting excuse, you’ve been sent to the principal’s office.  After all, a teacher should only have to put up with so much.

But then we have Jesus.  He doesn’t get “fed up” with us.  Once you believe that Christ is your Savior, you’re a keeper.  Really.  Once your soul is saved for all eternity, it’s saved no matter what.  The only thing that can change is if you stop believing Christ is your Savior.  Somehow Jesus’ limitless love seems like too sweet of a deal.  Surely SOMETHING could separate you from Christ.  The Bible says “no”.  Listen to Roman 8:38-39:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. “
How can our life not impact how much Jesus loves us?  Surely the bad things you do or the bad things you are going to do would stop Jesus from loving you.  This Bible verse says “no”.  What if someone treated you like garbage, would that stop Jesus form loving you?  “No”.  What if you were surrounded by temptation or what if you died?  Would Jesus’ saving love still be there?  ABSOLUTELY!  There is nothing that can separate you from Christ.  Nothing.
Let’s admit the obvious: This limitless love of Christ does not make sense.  Making sense is setting limits like a teacher sending a student to the principal’s office.  Isn’t setting limits what you would do?  It’s what I would do.   Limits keep others from hurting you.  Christ doesn’t need to keep His distance from you.  Christ has already suffered the pain of a relationship with you by dying for your sins on the cross.  So for Christ, your sins are gone.  He can love you as you were meant to be loved- free of sin.

That’s why the love of Jesus is limitless.  If he has removed your sins, think about how lovable you truly are.   Jesus paid the price so your sin does not stand between you and Him.  Scripture says is best “ Nothing will be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Nothing.

Not only will you love this song but so will you kids- even the teenagers!  The sound is very rock and the rhythm is great.  Best part is that the lyrics are the kind of thing I want to roll around in my head all day!!

When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain’t gonna last forever
And things can only get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger
Gonna make you stronger, stronger, stronger
Believe me, this is gonna make you …

Try and do the best you can
Hold on and let Him hold your hand
And go on and fall into the arms of Jesus
Oh, lift your head it’s gonna end
God’s right there
Even when you just can’t feel Him
I promise you that He still cares

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZQdv1IRVv8

“Genuine love is always self-forgetful in the true sense of the word.”