Sundays are our favorite day of the week! And yesterday was no different.
Two things really stand out. Dana gave a powerful testimony on community & we began the next chapter in the Gospel of Mark!
Dana’s testimony reminded us of the huge benefit of community—of relationships where you can know & be known. Living in community is not always easy, so it is so helpful for Dana to lift our gaze & help us cherish the church family God has given to us.
And Pastor Walt preached through the first 12 verses of Mark 2. This is the story of the paralytic man who was let down on a mat right in front of Jesus. Ultimately Jesus addresses the man’s sinfulness & his need for forgiveness, in doing showing himself to be God.
Interesting enough, it is the faith of his friends—community!—that is decisive for his encounter with Jesus.
Dana’s testimony & Walt’s notes are below.
If you want to watch the entire service, you can click here to view the recorded livestream on YouTube.
And, if you want to listen to the sermon, you can click here or listen on our podcast channel.
DANA TUMLIN’S TESTIMONY
The dictionary definition of Community is the feeling of fellowship as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals.
That sounds alright but my definition has nothing to do with FEELINGS. To me community is the opportunity to deepen my relationship with Christ alongside believers who He has placed in my path.
In 2011 Kevin and I made the decision to make Chattanooga our church home. We found a church where the message always applied and our children would be well cared for during the service. We faithfully attended that church for 8 years. In 2019 we were invited to be a part of an exciting opportunity to plant a new church in Chattanooga. A church where we would actively serve the local community. While the idea of being the hands and feet of Jesus for the people of Chattanooga excited me, something didn’t feel right. We began to realize He was tugging at our hearts to find a church in Athens.
In December 2019 Kevin and I decided it was time to start visiting churches in Athens. Because we already had numerous friends who attended Trinity Grace church we decided it would be a great place to start. Here’s the exciting part, we never felt the need to visit anywhere else.
You see, there are women amongst us here today who have been part of my life for many, many years. They are women who I have always admired. They are women who have consistently demonstrated their love for Christ in the way they speak about their husbands, raise their children and in the way they interact with other people. They are humble. They are gentle. They openly show their love for Jesus. I need to surround myself with women like this! I am incredibly grateful for each and everyone of them.
When I look back on the last 10 years I am in awe of the obvious path God had us on. Here at Trinity Grace community is not a feeling. It is a way of life. Community is the opportunity to develop and nurture infectious hunger for Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not always easy and all smiles. But, living in community with these friends has helped us and helped me walk through the hard moments and filled us with hope for the future.
This community has been a blessing to me & our family. And I pray that, as we press forward, we keep our focus on Christ and deepening our relationship with Him alongside each other.
–Dana Tumlin
Main point: There is no forgiveness of sins except through the blood of Jesus Christ.
1. Your greatest problem is your sin.
“Suffering hurts more, but sin is more serious. Suffering will not last, but sin has consequences that reach into eternity.” Ed Welch
2. Your sin is against God.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Exodus 34:6-7
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:25
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Psalm 51:4
3. Only God can forgive your sin through Jesus.
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14
He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a Cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a [tomb]. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the Cross, his Burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the [tomb], where it fell in, and I saw it no more.
Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, He has given me rest by His sorrow, and life by His death. Then he stood still a while to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the Cross should thus ease him of his Burden. He looked therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks. John Bunyan
“Why, this is mine,” saith Christ; “this agreement I made with my Father, that I should come, and take thy sins, and bear them away: they are my lot. Give my thy burden, give me all they sins. Thou knowest not what to do with them; I know how to dispose of them well enough, so that God shall be glorified and thy soul delivered.” John Owen
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. Ephesians 1:7