Communion_3Mar24_PCruz

The speaker reads a Bible verse about finding rest in Jesus. They then discuss the topic of taking blame in life, mentioning how people often try to avoid it or pass it onto others. They talk about the story of Adam and Eve blaming each other in the Bible. The speaker concludes by saying that Jesus is willing to take the blame for our wrong decisions and sins, and encourages the listener to come before the Lord and seek forgiveness. I'm just going to turn to the book of Matthew chapter 11 verse 28. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So I was just reading through Daily Bread one morning and I came across an interesting topic about taking the blame. And I think from, I guess, my life experiences that we sort of hear about this a lot at home, at work, about when something doesn't go quite right, who's going to take the blame? And normally kids are quick at pointing at another sibling. And at work normally they're quickly to point at someone who's not there. So, and another interesting type of blame that I've heard is we're a team, we all take the blame. And I'm thinking, well, I didn't do that, so why am I taking the blame? But anyway, that's besides the point. So we're always quick to pass the buck whenever possible. It seems to be a firm principle of life that the blame is something that needs to be shared around, if not completely avoided. We find that saying, yes, you're right, it was completely my fault, is never the first thought that comes to mind. We either blame God, someone else, the equipment, the car, the world, the weather, our parents, our teachers, but rarely do we accept the blame ourselves. This is just not something that we always do. You'll be glad to know that this is not a new problem. It has been around as long as people have. We first read about it with Adam and Eve in Genesis. We find the first people having the same problem. Who was the first person to blame someone else? Well, it was Adam. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent, and the story goes on. The serpent didn't have a leg to stand on. As you can see, it's a very old joke, almost an original one. Fortunately, God is good at stepping in and doing what we cannot do. In Genesis, it was God who killed the first animal to cover the first people. Today, it's just the same. When no one could take the blame, it was Jesus who stepped up and said, I will take the blame. I will take the blame for all your wrong decisions. I will take the blame for all your sin. Cast your cares onto me. Let's come before the Lord today and hand over our cares and troubles. Let's ask his forgiveness and receive the bread and the wine together this morning.