My Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

As we near the half-way point in our Lenten journey to Easter, I urge you not to let the conviction of our sin lead you into destructive self-persecution. 

None of us are worthy or justified in our own right before God. It is precisely because Jesus Christ died for the unworthy (i.e., all of us) that we have a sense of the endless nature of God's unconditional love for us. 

God is not the deadly punisher, but the extravagant lover. Jesus did not make the sacrifice on the Cross to persuade God to love us, but rather to convince us that we are loved by God - that you are loved by God, by our Heavenly Father.

Never stray from this fact - that you are one loved by God, and in Christ we are adopted children of God. Embrace this identity and love as you are loved. The world will then be a better place.

In Christ's Love,
Mark Andrew+

"Anxiety weights down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up" (Proverbs 12:25).