Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church

This week I traveled to Indiana to attend the national gathering of The Fellowship Community which is a community of evangelical Presbyterian leaders of the PCUSA.

Over 300 leaders from across the United States came to Zionsville Presbyterian Church and it was good to be with other leaders who are like minded in their approach to ministry.

The Fellowship Community wants to see that Presbyterians do three things:

These are the things that I want for our church. We need to be a people who are getting the Gospel right, out, and deep within us. It is these aspects of the Christian life that will form us into being growing disciples of Jesus who multiply our lives as disciples to others.

I hope that you will join me as we seek to live these out.

Occasionally, I want to send an eBlast that is from a friend, Don Barkley, who serves in the ministry of Search, an outreach ministry to adults who have questions about Christianity. They do this in a variety of ways (two being Open Forums, which are gatherings in homes where people can ask questions about and The Search podcast).

Here is a conversation that Don had:

“One thing I have a problem with…or let’s say I just don’t understand: I hear Christians talk about how Jesus died for our sins. And I get how that would be for all the people that lived 2000 years ago. He died for their sins, because they were living then, when He was dying.” 

[Don] “Uh-huh.” 

“But that was then. How is it that His dying then can have any effect on us today?” 

“…or have any effect on anyone that lived after Jesus?’” 

“Yes.  Exactly.”   

“That’s a great question.” 

“And maybe there’s no answer, that it’s something you just have to believe.” 

[Christian Friend] “Oh…I think there might be an answer…” 

“Really?” 

[Christian Friend] “I think of it this way: When a person accepts Christ, and trusts that Jesus has died for their sins, he believes that all the sins that he has committed up to that point in his life are now paid for and forgiven, right?  Well, what about the sins that he commits the next day or down the road?  We also believe that all those sins have already been paid for too.” 

[Don] “Yes, and notice that the believer trusts in forgiveness of all his sins…why?  Because Jesus paid for people’s future sins.” 

“Okay…”  

“It helps me when I think of God’s nature, and that He is outside of time as we know it.  We are in it, but He created it.  He’s not stuck in time as we are.  It’s like sitting by a parade that we are watching from the curb.  We can only see what is in front of us…in the present.  But, someone high above the parade can see the whole thing.  He can see the beginning of the parade and the end of the parade at the same time.  And he doesn’t even need to look side to side to see it…He sees it and knows it.” 

“That makes sense…” 

“And, assuming God is outside of and knows all, not only does He know about all people in the future, but He also knows all their sins, and can even pay for them ‘ahead of time.’  In fact, that’s what the Bible says He did.” 

“It does help to see God outside of time.  That’s very interesting 

…I’ve never thought of it that way.  Thank you.”   

Scriptural Foundations 

2 Cor. 5:14b-19 

Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 

1 Pet. 3:18 

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.