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“And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” (Ephesians 4:32 (HCSB))

Our world is broken; everything and everyone in this world is broken. In fact, there are only two kinds of people in the world: those who know they’re broken and those who are broken but don’t know it. God wants us to know that we’re broken.

That’s why our churches should be "no-shame zones", places for broken people to come when they hurt.

Colossians 3:12 says, “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (NIV). Because we know how much God loves us, we can demonstrate compassion, kindness, humility and patience with others. And that’s exactly what the church has been called to do. It’s the place for the broken, the place for those whose lives don’t work out as they think they should.

The truth is that the church shouldn’t just “accept” hurting people. We should want hurting people in our midst. Jesus was called, "the Friend of Sinners."

We’ve got to realize that every sinner has a future and every saint has a past.

That means since you’re the church, He wants to use you.

God wants us to be people of the second chance. But we can’t be second-chance people until we realize how much of a second chance we’ve been given. Too many Christians don’t know and feel forgiven - so they don’t let anyone else feel forgiven either.

When we realize how much grace God showed to us when He saved us, sharing that kind of grace with others will only be natural. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:32,
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as God forgave you through Christ.”

Second chances aren’t just for addicts and convicts; second chances are for all of us. No matter how squeaky-clean our lives have looked on the outside, the Bible is clear that we’ve all needed a second chance at some point in our lives.

In fact, it’s when we realize how much God loves us and has forgiven us that we’re able to properly take that love to others. The people who are best able to show God’s love to others are the ones who feel God’s love the most fully.

Remember Jonah? He failed miserably. But even with that, we read:

“Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time:” (Jonah 3:1, NLT).

And God spoke to him (and us) a third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, etc. time!

Remember, the final chapter hasn't been written for any of us until it's over.
And where there is life, there's hope!!!

Yes, Jesus did say to people, "Go, and sin no more!' But he did not begin His conversations with that statement, but after they became followers of His.

A "Senior Saint" scolded me once for "allowing these young people to be in church wearing some of the vulgar shirts they have on."

My response was,
"Do you have a better place for them to be?"

Remember, God always catches His fish before He cleans them ;-).

• How well do you feel in your church?

Rejoicing, On the Victory Side!

Beau

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