In the conversation for Sunday, October 22, 2017, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us the truth about guilt and its power to keep us down if we let it. He also played two songs to help us to see how to live into and embody the freedom of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sacred Reading 00:00-14:30, Conversation 14:30-40:47

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
Romans 7:24-8:2 (NLT)

Sacred Reading

A note about the recording of the Sacred Reading:
The reader will pause between each of the four readings. The pauses have been left in the recording so that the listener can experience the rhythm of the gathering and even participate in the reading. Below are the guidelines for each of the four readings of the practice.

Read: Read the passage and receive it as God’s message to you.
Reflect: Read the passage again and look for the word or phrase that the Holy Spirit highlights to your heart.
Respond: Take the highlighted words and make them a prayer.
Rest: Rest your heart in God’s promises.

So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. Consequently, it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” How different from this way of faith is the way of law, which says, “If you wish to find life by obeying the law, you must obey all of its commands.” But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
Galatians 3:9, 11-13 (NLT)