“Here is the message we heard from him and pass on to you: that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to be sharing in his life while we walk in the dark, our words and our lives are a lie; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, then we share a common life, and we are being cleansed from every sin by the blood of Jesus his son.

If we claim to be sinless, we are self-deceived and strangers to the truth. If we confess our sins, he is just, and may be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every kind of wrong; but if we say we have committed no sin, we make him out to be a liar, and then his word has no place in us” (1 John 1:5-10).

That was the text of the sermon from The Church at Avenue South.

The good news I’m referring to is this: it’s not about what I’ve done or said that will get me forgiven. It is all about what Jesus has already done. It’s about me clinging to that finished work and trusting in Jesus.

Sure, I have good days where I feel like I have my stuff together. Then there are days when I can barely tie my shoelaces successfully. There are moments when I wonder if the pills are really working because I feel so far from normal. Like all of us do from time to time.

On the good days and on the bad days, my forgiveness and my hope come from Jesus. Never from me or my talents or my mad skills or my ingenuity.

The old hymn says it best. My hope IS built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Not on any self-made systems of support, which always come crashing down sooner or later.

Only in Jesus. To me, that is news that never gets old and never stops being good news.