Today is the first day of school for Advent Elementary and Middle School.  Our Early Childhood students began yesterday and another year is off and running.  I have always liked the start of a new school year.  A new opportunity for each and every student to make new friends and try new activities.  Often there are new responsibilities that come with advancing up a grade.  New things always bring about excitement and possibility.  The Bible talks about us being new in Christ in II Corinthians 5.  Let’s look at the passage together today.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God has made us new, given us a new start and a new job.  Since we have been reconciled to God through Jesus we are now told that we are to be His agents of reconciliation here on earth.  I remember when I was in high school leadership, a few short years ago, I had a job the first day of school to make sure that new students met people and knew where they were going around campus.  I loved this job plus it got me out of a few classes the first week of school.  That is kind of like the job Jesus has given us as a ministry of reconciliation.  We are responsible to introduce others to Jesus.  I pray that as a new year starts we would all be reminded about this job that we have been given and be agents of reconciliation for God. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave