Wednesday Message

October 7, 2026

 

When Wanting to be Good Is Not Enough

“I do not understand my own actions.” – Romans 7:15

I do not understand my own actions.

There may be no sentence in the Bible easier for us to recognize in ourselves.

Why did I just say that?  Why do I keep reacting like that when I know better?  Why did I decide yesterday that I wasn’t going to do that anymore, and then today I did it again? 

Why is it so hard to become the person I actually want to be?

Paul knows that feeling.  Romans 7 describes something painful about the human condition: sometimes knowing what is good, and even wanting what is good, are not enough to make us do what is good.

“I can will what is right,” Paul says, “but I cannot do it.”

Paul is not saying that human beings are horrible monsters whose only thoughts are selfish and sinful.  Just the opposite.  His anguish comes precisely because he does desire the good.  He delights in God’s law.  He wants to do what is right.

And still, sometimes, he finds himself doing what he hates.

Christianity has traditionally said that this is because there is more to sin than individual bad actions.  There are sins—particular things we do that hurt our neighbors, damage ourselves, or pull us away from God.

But Paul also speaks about Sin – with a capital “S” – as something larger.  In Romans 7, Sin is almost personified.  Sin “dwells” within him.  Sin deceives him.  Sin takes him captive.  It acts like an occupying power.

Sin is not simply what happens when Paul makes a bad choice.  Sin has gotten inside Paul’s ability to choose good.  That is why one traditional prayer of confession says, “We are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.”

Paul knows what is good.  Paul wants what is good.  But wanting the good does not always give him the power to accomplish it.  In theological terms, we sometimes call this the problem of incapacity.

Sin has damaged our freedom to choose to be good enough that the answer cannot simply be, “Try harder.”

So Paul does not ask, “How can I fix myself?”  He asks, “Who will rescue me?”  And his answer comes immediately:

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Christianity’s answer is not that we finally learn how to save ourselves.  It is that Christ enters our captivity without himself being captive to Sin, and through him God begins to make us free.

That freedom is not instant perfection.  Romans 8 does not describe people who never struggle again.  It describes life in the Spirit.

Sin is still real, but Sin is no longer the only spiritual power at work within us.  As we live into Christ together—through prayer, worship, communion, forgiveness, service, and love—the Spirit slowly loosens Sin’s grip.

We are not saving ourselves.  We are being drawn into a life we could not create for ourselves.

“Who will rescue me?”

Someone already has.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer

Gracious God, we know what it is to want what is good and still find ourselves doing what we hate.  Free us from the illusion that we can save ourselves if only we try hard enough.  Draw us more deeply into the life of Christ.  Fill us with your Spirit, and loosen the grip of everything that keeps us from becoming the people you are calling us to be.

Amen.

 

 

Sign up in the narthex if you would like to volunteer to serve coffee on Sunday mornings.

Join us upstairs before church and downstairs in the Fellowship Hall following the worship service

on Sunday mornings for coffee and treats, everyone is welcome.

Bible Study, the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month at 3pm with Pastor Dustin, everyone is welcome to join us.

 

Every other Thursday of the month Kimmie Schmieg will have her Girl Scout meeting in the

Fellowship Hall from 6 pm to 7pm.

 

Sunday Coffee: coffee will be started downstairs, treats will be provided.

Coffee Hour, Oct. 11th. Rose Moehring

Church council meeting, Monday, October 12, 6pm., also Monday, October 12th is Native American Day, and

is a holiday, the church office will be closed, but the council meeting will still be observed.

 

Wings will meet this Saturday, October 10th, at 1:00 pm,

Vina or Jim Clendenin will talk about Beekeeping.

Susan  A. will have devotions, and Vina, Dawn, and Cyndy will provide dessert.

Please start saving cardboard toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls.

At November’s meeting, we will assemble them into ornaments.

See you then! Brenda, Allison and Susan

 

 

As the seasons change, it's time to prepare our building and grounds for the months ahead during our annual Fall Clean-Up Day. Join us on Saturday, October 17, starting at 10:00 am, 

as we work together to spruce up our church inside and out, (weather permitting), clear the autumn leaves, etc. and care for our church, whether you can stay for the whole morning or just an hour. 

There are jobs for everyone, no training needed.  Sign up in the narthex so we can plan on how many tools we need. Thank you for serving our church!

 

 

Meals on Wheels, October 19 through October 23, 2026, let Lynne Forbush know if you can help

deliver meals.

 

                                                                  October Money Counter:

                          October 11~ Vina Clendenin

 

                                                               MONEY COUNTERS for OCTOBER    

                                                              October 18 ~ Allison Foster

                                                              October 25 ~ Wayne Johnson