I do think that a minister who can preach a sermon without addressing sinners does not know how to preach.

We're all sinners, every one of us. We've all done things we wish we hadn't.

We're all sinners. Everybody you meet all over the world is a sinner.

If we are interested in Christ by faith, notwithstanding our imperfections and sins, God will be our God through grace.

You've committed no sins, just mistakes.

So then, we are all equally guilty, every day. How, then, does one find and know peace and power in this life when surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses who only pretend to be clean by whitewashing their reputations while pointing fingers of judgment?

I never doubted my standing in the next life, but I often felt shame in this life, constantly disappointing God in my failure to love as He asked me to love. As such, I was caught in a kind of stupor of unworthiness.

So many Christians today see a system in which they cannot measure up and so they feel unworthy. The church seems to have failed them.

Don't get me wrong - what we do is important. But it is infinitely less important than what Jesus has done for us.

Grace cannot be confused with righteousness. Grace is receiving what we do not deserve; mercy is not receiving what we do deserve. Righteousness, on the other hand, includes what most of us would consider difficult matters, such as punishment, correction and judgment. It also includes what most of us would consider positive matters, such as the fruit of the Spirit.

You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.

The sinners to whom Jesus directed His messianic ministry were not those who skipped morning devotions or Sunday church. His ministry was to those whom society considered real sinners. They had done nothing to merit salvation. Yet they opened themselves to the gift that was offered them. On the other hand, the self-righteous placed their trust in the works of the Law and closed their hearts to the message of grace.