Cedar Springs Sermon

A local pastor gave his weekly sermon Sunday morning at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church where he spoke on how to live in light of God’s forgiveness.

John Wood, the Senior Pastor of Cedar Springs, seemed to preach as much to himself as he did to his congregation when he gave his sermon "Not Only I, but Christ" about Christians’ negative emotional attachment to their sins and their sense of great guilt and shame despite forgiveness.

“Too often we think of the gospel as merely being forgiven without letting that affect our lives,” Wood said.

Wood drew his teaching from the second chapter of the book of Galatians out of the Holy Bible, in which the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Galatia about justification through Jesus Christ. Christians believe that freedom from sin can be gained through faith in Christ, and that sins are forgiven because of the sacrifice God made through Christ’s death.

From these scriptures, Wood taught that all are guilty of sin, but once “in Christ” there is no condemnation, only justification. However, Wood also spoke of a lack of acceptance of this justification in the Christian church.

“The world looks at the church and sees a reflection of its own brokenness,” Wood said.

Pastor Wood also asked the congregation to think about what is holding them back from living as Christians. He examined the ideas of guilt and shame, and spoke of the dangers of feeling too much of each one as it would hinder one from getting past his or her sin and learning to let go.

Wood also spoke of the dangers of feeling too little of guilt or shame as well.

“If you accept forgiveness merely so that you can face death without fear, you have missed something,” Wood said.

Wood’s one-hour sermon taught Christians to live in the freedom of God’s forgiveness, but never to take advantage of it. God will not condemn a Christian, but he may show a little “fatherly discipline," Wood said.