Sermon Series on Leviticus

So we are working through the Book of Leviticus this Fall at All Saints in a sermon series entitled, Mercy Grace, and the Cross of Christ: A look at Leviticus for the 21st Century.

Since it is my firm conviction that Christians cannot hope to grasp the fullness of the Cross of Christ without an understanding of what Leviticus is about (hint: Jesus), we are looking at the key passages and sections of the often neglected OT book as a means of establishing the foundation of the Gospel. Two Sunday's ago we looked at the Feast of Trumpets which is the foreshadowing of the Great In Gathering when Christ comes again. As we looked at the passage I drew an analogy between the feast of Trumpets and what many call "Rally Day" or Reunion Sunday to highlight that people are coming off their summer vacations and gathering to begin the new church year.

This past Sunday we took our first look at the Day of Atonement as it is briefly described in chapter 23 in the context of it's call on God's people for spiritual renewal. Here is an excerpt from that sermon:


"The point of the times of rest and self examination is not to put yet another weighty burden but rather to offer a breathe of hope .. a point of release from the burdens of the world AND our own personal sin as we look to the Cross... you see when we examine ourselves and find ourselves lacking we have a choice: WE CAN MAKE EXCUSES OR we can turn to the Cross... we can turn to the one who paid for all those things we see in ourselves that we don't want to see when we examine ourselves. When we face our falleness we can turn to Jesus who put Himself in or place who lived as we live and died the death we deserve.. we can ask Jesus, our Lord Jesus, our Savior, to have mercy on the one we know ourselves to be. To have mercy on us... BUT we have trouble accepting the forgiveness of God because we operate under an illusion.. and the illusion is this... He wouldn't really forgive me if He knew who I really was.., Brothers and sisters He does know who we are... when Jesus died He died for your sins.. not just collective sins ... for your specific sins... for you. He knows you and He died for you to make the Day of Atonement have it's fullest meaning and He offers you and I a chance to respond to His sacrifice.. to accept... receive and be something new, in other words, He is offering in Himself and in and through His sacrifice … He is offering to you and to me transformation... real and enduring TRANSFORMATION!"


You can hear the whole thing at www.allsaintsanglicanbr.org


Blessings,

mark+