tea. worship. God.

Hi everyone,

So just to update you, Epsilon has started a Bible Study for the campus this semester.

The Bible Study started from just a need we felt to collectively learn more about God. simple.

We are now studying 1 john.

Last week in ch. 2 a verse stuck out to me...

1 john 2:2:

2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

In this verse john is telling us that Jesus came not only to atone for our sins, but for the WHOLE world's sins. This reminds me of a story in Matthew.

In Matthew 9:10-13

At Matthew's house Jesus was having dinner with tax collectors, his disciples, and the Bible says "sinners" came and ate with Him too. Pretty upstanding crowd? Well, that's exactly what the Pharisees thought too, sike!

The Bible goes on to say, when the Pharisees saw this, they asked the disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

When Jesus heard this He said the famous words, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

He didn't end there, He continued with...but go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Wow! my favorite part is when Jesus says 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'. How many times do we "sacrifice"? or can i say, How many times do we only give to that ministry, go to church, volunteer for the nursery, talk/give to that person asking for money outside wal-mart because we consider it a sacrifice of ourselves? Well in Matthew it says that he doesn't desire sacrifice, but mercy. How about mercy for the ministry that is trying to get started, what about if we desired to attend church, what about if we forgave the person who twists our arms to work in the nursery, what about if we gave of ourselves because our heart broke for the person asking for money?

Jesus goes on further to say, 'I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'

Shouldn't we do the same?

remembering.

hi all,

sorry it has taken me so long to get started on here.

just to let you know a little about me:

my name is juliea jenkins

i'm from ponchatoula, louisiana

political science major/children's ministry minor

passion: simply to help people

today i was contemplating my life...

depressed? not so much. i was mainly trying to remember it

i am now a senior at lee, and i was trying to remember where all the time has gone

and what exactly have i done with that time

maybe you're reading this trying to remember college

there are events that i'm sure meant a lot to me weeks ago have simply become a blur...

do you know what i'm talking about?

there's this story in the Bible

the story of nehemiah

a quick summary, you see, nehemiah left his position in babylon to help his people rebuild the ruined walls of jerusalem. through this endeavor the people and nehemiah rallied in the midst of conflict and opposition.

which bring us to chapter 9, my favorite, the people gathered confessing their sins and...wait...they gathered to remember what the Lord had done in their lives.

this part astounds me!

the people gathered and for the rest of the chapter remember the many things that God had done in their lives starting with abraham and listing every covenant, promise, suffering, sorrow, wonder, and sign.

if we can't remember what we ate for breakfast

can we remember what God has done in our lives?

relationships are the most fun when you remember the past

remembering the first time you held hands...your first date

our relationship with God should encompass remembering and therefore praising Him for what he's done in our lives

do you remember?