Aim: To know that Jesus wants to forgive our sins
Resources: Hula Hoops

Can anyone tell me what this is? [Ans: Hula Hoop]
What do you do with it? [Ans: spin it around ones’ waist]
(Volunteers: children + adults)
Does it do anything else? [Ans: No?]
What shape is it? [Ans: Circle]
[One child takes hoop and runs hand around inside]
Where does the circle begin? [Ans: it doesn’t begin]
Dos the circle end? [Ans: No, the circle goes on and on…]

Do you know that God’s love is like a hula hoop?
How is God’s love like a hula hoop? [Ans: Just as a circle has no beginning or end – so too is God’s love – it has always been and will always be – it just goes on and on and on and on]

Now, who can tell me what the very first book in the Bible is called? [Ans: Genesis]
What is chapter 1 about? [Ans: Creation]
We’re told that when God saw all that he had made, he said that it was very good, and God’s ‘very good’ should be understood as ‘total perfection – a world that he loved so dearly.’ But something happened soon after this – what was that? [Ans: Sin entered the world]
(Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the Serpent, and the Serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on.)
What this meant was that all of humanity was separated from God, BUT God never stopped loving us – instead he provided a way so that we could be reunited with Him.
How did He do this? [Ans: He sent Jesus, his Son]

Only in Jesus, (God in Human Shoes), could we all be reunited with him, and in order to be reunited with God – our Heavenly Father, all of us, without exception need, first of all to be forgiven of our sins – that is the mess that separates us from God.

And this is what Jesus offers the paralysed man. You see, when Jesus looked at him, he knew everything about him – he knew all about his life; and yet Jesus still loved him and wanted to forgive him. Jesus didn’t say, ‘go away and live a better life before I forgive you’ – instead Jesus forgave him where he was.

Today, it’s exactly the same – Jesus comes to each of us where we are at – it’s never a case of trying to earn Jesus’ forgiveness – instead he comes to us and offers forgiveness – forgiveness to all who would want it. But we have to do something before we can receive his forgiveness and that is we have to bring our lives and say sorry – sorry to Jesus for the things that we do that we know we shouldn’t, and sorry for those things we should have done but didn’t.

This is what the confession is all about that we say each week in our services. It’s a reminder that we do live in a messed up world - we do need God’s help day by day – we do need to know his love and forgiveness. The good news is that like a hula hoop, like a circle, there is no end to God’s love and forgiveness, it is always available – all we have to do is to reach out and grab it. Will you today?