Dear Cornerstone family,
On March the 5th (Ash Wednesday), Midweek at Cornerstone kicks off. Like in the past, we’ll gather on Wednesday evenings for food, fellowship, worship, study, and choir. There will be opportunities for discipleship from the youngest to the oldest. Please go ahead now and mark your calendar.
For our evening service during Midweek, we will be in a series entitled Confronting the Sins We Tolerate. As much as we hate to admit it, there are certain sins in our lives we’ve ceased fighting. Sins with which we’ve brokered an uneasy truce. Sins that have moved into our lives and made themselves at home.
Which sins is it for you? Is it gossip? What about worry? Could it be anger, or maybe discontent? These sins are easy to pass off as no big deal, which is exactly what the Evil One wants you to do. You aren’t committing the “big sins” like murder or adultery. Compared with other people, you’re not all that bad, are you?
The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 5:11-12). In other words, sin is sin no matter if it’s big or small. Every sin is significant because it’s an affront to a holy God and is deserving of God’s wrath and punishment.
This is why James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it,” and why Paul says in Galatians 3:10, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law and do them.”
Thankfully, we have a Savior greater than our sin, who, as the hymn writer put it, “nailed [our sin] to the cross, and we bear it no more.” Hallelujah! But just because we’ve been saved from sin doesn’t mean sin isn’t an issue anymore. Every day each of us deal with the reality of remaining sin. The penalty of sin is paid. The power of sin is broken. And yet, the presence of sin remains. Therefore, each day until we die or until Jesus returns, we must be putting sin to death and living unto the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
In the six weeks leading up to Easter, we will consider what Jerry Bridges once called “Respectable Sins”––sins we don’t think are all that sinful. The sins we let slide. In this series, we will define each sin, consider the root of each sin, and explore strategies for putting them to death. If you’re serious about “laying aside…the sins which cling so closely” (Hebrews 12:1), don’t miss this important study.
Confronting the Sins We Tolerate
· 3/5 – Pride and Selfishness
· 3/12 – Discontent and Restlessness
· 3/19 – Anger and Frustration
· 3/26 – Anxiety and Worry
· 4/2 – Envy and Jealousy
· 4/9 – Gossip and Slander
Your servant,
