03/16/2026
Thoughts from Sunday's sermon:
Jesus was always safe for people who were willing to be honest.
Think about it.
The woman caught in adultery.
The prodigal son.
Greedy tax collectors.
The woman at the well.
The apostle Paul, who once persecuted the church.
Peter, who denied Jesus three times.
And the thief dying on the cross beside him.
Again and again, people who had nothing to hide behind came to Jesus—and found mercy.
Jesus is safe to be a sinner with.
Safe to be honest with.
And honesty requires safety.
But don’t misunderstand—Jesus loves us too much to leave us in the bo***ge of sin.
Now people, on the other hand, can be unsafe.
We can be immature.
We can be wounded in ways that make honesty difficult.
Sometimes people approach others as if it’s their job to fix them.
And sadly, this is often true in the church.
In fact, historically the church has sometimes been one of the least safe places to be honest—largely because we have misunderstood the gospel… how it works and what it actually does in our lives.
And yet the church should be the safest place on earth.
Because we know the gospel.
Because we ourselves live in the mercy and grace of God.
If we are going to live in the freedom God intends—free from shame, free from hiding, strengthened by mercy, grace, and unconditional love—then we must grow into a community marked by safety and honesty.
A place where people can tell the truth about where they really are…
and where we take seriously the freedom made possible by love.
Maybe your bo***ge is an addiction or a habit that keeps derailing your life.
Maybe it’s pride.
Unforgiveness.
Fear.
Anxiety.
Anger.
Lust.
Greed.
Or the endless pursuit of comfort and wealth.
In other words—idolatry.
Or maybe it’s something deeper: wounds from abandonment, abuse, or neglect.
Whatever the form, the result is the same.
Bo***ge.
But here is the good news.
In Christ Jesus we are forgiven.
This is God’s settled posture toward his children.
The only sin that cannot be forgiven is the total rejection of God’s mercy and grace in Christ. And even when the Father disciplines us… even when the Holy Spirit convicts us… it is never condemnation.
It is always a call to freedom.
Mercy and grace make honesty possible.
Because of Jesus, we are free to be in process.
Free to become truly holy—
which is another way of saying, truly free.
But for that to happen, the church must become the safest place on earth.
Not a place that celebrates sin…
but a place that believes sin has already been conquered through Jesus Christ.
A place where unrelenting forgiveness is normal.
And where the transforming work of the Holy Spirit is welcomed in every life.
That's the kind of community where real freedom grows.
