In today`s reading we learn two very important things for all of us who are Christians. The first one is about the sin, and the fact the sin has no power upon us if we are washed with the blood of Jesus through our faith. That does not mean that we are now sinless and that we will never sin again. But it means that God does not see us anymore as sinful and God sees us through His Son Jesus Christ who died for us. Those things many Christians nowadays do not understand. Being forgiven does not mean that we will never sin again. We have sinful nature which we inherited from Adam. But we, who are saved also have the forgiveness of our sins which was gifted as a free gift from Jesus. As we read in Romans 5:12-15 through one man the sin had entered the world. And that man was Adam. We all, a human creatures inherited this sin and our nature became sinful. And since the sin was an obstacle and barrier between God and man there was a necessity for something to happen in order to break this barrier. Centuries after Adam brought the sin into this material world, God gave Moses the Law. And again, there were many centuries needed to let people aware that the Law cannot be fulfilled and that every single person is a sinner and should be always separated from God. Unfortunately it seems that even today in some Christian denominations people do not believe in this gift and are trying to earn their own salvation. They do not feel secure in mercy which God promised but they are trying to be very pious and through religious rituals try to earn forgiveness of their sins. They light candles, incense, they donate money to the church, give charity, pray a lot and pray rosaries etc. I must say that all of these things are good but they should be result of being saved. Not to do all those things aiming to earn what cannot be earned and it is precious and uncountable gift of God`s eternal mercy and gift of salvation. And then God decided to send into the world our Savior, Jesus Christ. The only man who was sinful, the only man who was able to put away the sin of humankind. And as the sin step into the world through one man (Adam), also the sin stepped out from this world through one man (Jesus). And this is how it happened, we are now able to have a close relationship with God, not because of our own deeds or merits but because we believe in Jesus and through that faith and love God sees us sinless, free from sins and saved. This is why we know we are saved by grace. This is how great is God`s grace and mercy.

The second thing that we learnt today is that we should not be afraid. Even though it could sometimes be very difficult. People usually tend to believe their own feelings and thoughts. When we think that something negative is going to happen we often lack the faith in God and we lack the awareness that everything is happening with the will of God. If we have problems at work, or bad communication with our colleagues, financial problems, health issues or even emotional problems with our loving partner or our marriage seems to be broken. We should raise awareness that there are no coincidences in our life and that everything can be a new lesson or a new door that needs to be closed for another door and another possibilities to be opened. What we read today is from Matthew 10:29-31 – `Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.` This sentence is so amazing and so full of hope. God is aware even how many hairs we have. And he cares literally about all the things about us even some of them that we are not conscious. Our God is awesome. In our God we have forgiveness of sins, a loving relationship and he cares about us. My prayer today is that you all could feel such a great love and security in God. Amen.