​31“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.
33“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34 NLT)
 
We will be talking about covenants Sunday as we partake in The Lord’s Supper together. We spend a great deal of time talking, of course, about what the elements mean, about how we do this in remembrance of Jesus and the sacrifices He made, and even how we should approach this ordinance with a contrite heart. This passage from Jeremiah, however, reminds us that the life and death and resurrection of Jesus is also the culmination of the story of Israel. The Christ is the capstone of Jewish history as He is also the cornerstone of our salvation. The scriptures teach us that Jesus is the “Author and perfector of our faith” – the faith of Abraham, David and Moses as well as the faith of the Bride of Christ, His church. The story of Jesus is as big as the story of all history. 

​18A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’ 21“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Luke 18:18-22 (NIV)
 
We learn two very important things from this teaching of Jesus. The first is one that we overlook quite often – No one is good except God alone. Remember this the next time you place your faith in a person, or in a political system, educational system, or any other man-made system- yes, including the church. Human systems are, by nature, corrupt. The best we can do is the best we can do and we must place our faith in the sovereignty of God. Future history will turn out the way HE wants it to, not us. Stay the course, keep your eyes up – and keep the faith! 

James 5:13-16 (NLT) Read these words carefully. “13Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.”
Prayer is a very interesting topic. I get this question quite often, “If God knows everything, then why do I have to pray?” The answer to that has many layers, but let’s start with this one: Imagine you have found the person of your dreams with whom you desire to spend the rest of your life. You get married – and then you rarely if ever speak to them – or only speak to them when YOU need something, from that point? Healthy relationship? The short answer is obviously NO. Prayer, among many other things, is a relationship builder between you and your creator as you seek to “know and be known” by Him. Prayer empowers the relationship by deepening the connection, the trust, and the love. Also, by making yourself vulnerable to God in prayer by discussing your own sin nature and deepest fears and “thorns in your side,” help you to understand YOURSELF a whole lot better.

15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” 16Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 21“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ (Luke 14:15-21 NIV)
 
This is a very well-known and often repeated passage of scripture but I’ll bet that if I asked 15 people what it “meant” I would get 15 different responses. I’ll tell you what stands out to me and that is the word “Excuses.” Jesus has offered His banquet table – free of charge and full of the food that gives real life; but we the people offer Him nothing but excuses as to why we can’t (won’t is more like it) take Him up on His generosity. After hearing all of these excuses Jesus turns around with a bit of bite in His voice and tells them the bottom line, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Well then, there you have it – make up all the excuses that you want and you can share them in Hell with all those you thought were more important than the Savior.