sin and forgiveness

Good morning friends,
Hopefully, you or your cell phone remembered to set your clock ahead last night. A little later this morning we'll get to hear from our special Laurelton guest, Tiffany Aurora about her peacemaking trip to Iraq this past October. I hope you can join us for her presentation and discussion after worship. Our readings this morning are different from our readings for the service; we'll read this Genesis passage in a week or two. It tells the famous story of humanity's first turn away from God after creation. Notice that the man and woman are together when the serpent tempts them. The serpent is very crafty, since as Susan Dennis pointed out when we read this story in Supper and Scripture, she wouldn't have even known that lying was a possibility for the serpent. Our Psalm is one of my favorites because it gives us a powerful image for how much we suffer when we keep our sins to ourselves. When we return to God with confession, God is always ready to free us from the horrible burden of guilt. We'll talk more about that later today. The paragraph breaks in the Psalm show where different speakers take the lead: first the Psalmist, then God, then the Psalmist.

See you in church,
Sam

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7

2:15The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.16And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

3:1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.



*Sunday

Psalm 32

1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah

6 Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.

7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah



8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.



10 Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.