Thank you for giving of your time and energy serving our teachers at Hall Fletcher this past week during Teacher Appreciation Week. The week was a success and the teachers felt blessed by our presence there.  So again, thank you!

PRAYER GATHERING:  Monday, May 28th @ 6:30pm

There is nothing more important we can do as Christians than pray.  Join us April 30th at 6:30pm for a time of worship & prayer for our church body, the community, and the world.  Whether you attend regularly or are new to Missio Dei Church, we encourage you to come and participate.

SERVE THE BODY:  MDK Volunteers Needed

We are in need of some folks who are willing to serve Jesus and the congregation through our children’s ministry.  There are openings for both lead and assistant teacher roles as well as at our ‘check-in’ station.  If you can serve please email email hidden; JavaScript is required

SERVE THE BODY:  Sunday Morning Set-up Volunteers Needed

We are on the lookout for folks that can use their gifts to serve Jesus and the congregation through Sunday morning set-up and tear down.  Our biggest need is for the 9am service.  We are only asking for a once a month commitment.  If you are new, preparing for the gathering is a quick and easy way to plug in and meet new people.  If you would like to serve, please write ‘set-up’ on a Connect Card and place it in the box in the back, or email email hidden; JavaScript is required

ARE YOU ON FACEBOOK?

Make sure to follow Missio Dei Church on Facebook so you can stay up to date on events, announcements, and happenings in the body.  You can find us at facebook.com/mdcasheville.

Secondly, starting in September, Nursery will switch from Birth-3 years to Birth-2 years.  Then we will open a new class for 2 & 3 year-olds.  This class will also have a permanent room upstairs in Room 6.  Our preschool class will then switch from 3-5 to 4 & 5 year-olds and remain in its current classroom.

Thirdly, for elementary school kids, our K-2nd class will move to Room 1 (the current nursery).  This is a much larger classroom and will better accommodate the growing number of kids we’re seeing in this age group.  We will also hold worship time for all kids 4 years to 5th grade in this room prior to classroom activities.

Finally, the 3-5th Grade class will move to Room 3.  This will be a permanent room just for them and will provide a more conducive environment for them to learn and grow.

God’s law demanded, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). But we have all loved other things more. This is what sin is—dishonoring God by preferring other things over him, and acting on those preferences. Therefore, the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We glorify what we enjoy most. And it isn’t God.

Therefore sin is not small, because it is not against a small Sovereign. The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted. The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty. Therefore, failure to love him is not trivial—it is treason. It defames God and destroys human happiness.

Since God is just, he does not sweep these crimes under the rug of the universe. He feels a holy wrath against them. They deserve to be punished, and he has made this clear: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).

There is a holy curse hanging over all sin. Not to punish would be unjust. The demeaning of God would be endorsed. A lie would reign at the core of reality. Therefore, God says, “Cursed be every- one who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them” (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26).But the love of God does not rest with the curse that hangs over all sinful humanity. He is not content to show wrath, no matter how holy it is. Therefore God sends his own Son to absorb his wrath and bear the curse for all who trust him. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).

This is the meaning of the word “propitiation” in the text quoted above (Romans 3:25). It refers to the removal of God’s wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute is provided by God himself. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God’s wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.

Let us not trifle with God or trivialize his love. We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of his wrath against us. But when, by grace, we waken to our unworthiness, then we may look at the suffering and death of Christ and say, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

John Piper, The Passion of Jesus Christ
Copyright © 2004 by Desiring God Foundation

To learn more about Lent and its origins, check out this detailed article by Elliot Grudem.