Acts 2:38-39 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."

1. God's words of ____________ and ____________ cut sinners to the heart and give them life.

2. The greatest ____________ we have is how we ____________ Jesus and His message.

3. The whole Christian message, thus the whole Christian ____________, is about Jesus giving us ____________ and ____________.

Scripture Readings
Acts 2:14a,36-41
1 Peter 1:17-25
Luke 24:13-35

Take It With You!

Here we will offer thoughts and meditations on the message to help us as we contemplate and discuss and wrestle with what we are hearing.

Unrelenting in its demand, the Law can only make sin manifest for what it is and crush the sinner with its death sentence. There is no way to soften the hammer blows of the Law with promises of goodnesss to those who keep it or who at least attempt to live by its dictates. The remains a Word from the Lord that unmasks sin and accuses the sinner. It is to be preached in its full sternness, demonstrating that no one has "escaped sin's deadly cost." It is only when a person sees himself as a genuine sinner with no hope under the Law that the Gospel will be heard as joyous news of pardon. Then the Gospel can be preached fully and freely, without any additives from the Law, as a word that makes no demands, invites no bartering, but simply declares the forgiveness of sins to lost and condemned creatures, flesh and blood sinners. The Gospel has nothing to do with our works or worthiness and everything to do with God's Son, Jesus Christ, who was put to death for our sins and raised again for our justification.

John T. Pless, Handling the Word of Truth