Last week I led one of my most interesting confirmation classes. We began the class by heading outside, where my son Alex demonstrated how to shoot and arrow. Then we quickly escaped the cold and went back into the church.

The lesson for last Sunday’s class was sin. In the New Testament, the word for sin comes from the word used by Greek archers when they missed the mark, and it is quite appropriate, for whether we sin “big” or little,” sin is sin. We miss the mark or we hit the target – there is no in-between.

We have great kids in our confirmation class. They all understood this very important truth: sin is a problem for every single person, and no one is exempt.

This is an important truth for all of us, because when we accept that we have a problem, we are more eager to embrace the solution. That solution, of course, is Jesus Christ. As I explained to the kids, when you make chocolate milk or lemonade, you can’t change your mind and go back to plain milk or just water. Sin changes us forever before God, and so the solution comes outside ourselves through Jesus Christ.

As we make our way through this season of Lent, I hope and pray that each of us understand the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus more deeply and more clearly.

Warmly in Christ,

Pastor John