Forgiveness is the Sweetest Word in the World

You know, sometimes the best ideas for sermons don’t arrive while you’re staring at a blank page—they sneak up on you in the middle of someone else’s sermon. That’s what happened to me last week while listening to my brother-in-law preach. He said something simple, almost in passing, but it hit me like a hymnbook falling off the back of a pew:  “Forgiveness is the sweetest word in the world.”

Now, I’m not usually one to steal material… but I am willing to borrow it aggressively, so . . . 

A Garden and a Grave

 (A Communion Table Talk)

This morning, I want to take you to two places that hold deep meaning in the story of our salvation:  a garden . . . and a grave.

The two don’t seem like they go together.  A garden is where things grow.  A grave is where things end.  But in the story of Jesus, they’re both central — and they both tell the truth of the gospel.