In the Gospel of Luke, Mary is troubled when the angel of the Lord tells her that she has found favor with God. Like Mary, many of us have a hard time receiving God's favor. We feel unworthy or undeserving, but this is just the type of person God wants to pour His favor upon — the unexpecting, humble and lowly. Favor is often misunderstood to mean an easy comfortable life free of troubles, but God's favor is sometimes accompanied by difficulties. Just look at Abel, Noah, Lot and Joseph. Despite the possible difficulties, the favor of God will always bring about a "from now on" life changing and defining moment. Beloved, through Christ we're already favored. We just need to position our hearts and lives to receive it.

We all have an innate desire to live life well, but it gets corrupted by our fallen sin nature. We cannot live a righteous life without first being justified by the wrath-quenching blood of Jesus Christ. After we are justified Jesus works to sanctify us. Sometimes we falsely believe that the sanctification is up to us. We get zealous, grit our teeth and try to work up the willpower to live holy, but end up failing. God will not bless our efforts to secure our own righteousness. Our righteousness comes by faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross. It does not depend on human will or exertion, but on God's mercy.

God's old covenant with the people of Israel was a temporal one based on the works of man. The New Covenant through Christ is a much more excellent covenant. It is an everlasting covenant based on the finished work of Christ on the Cross. It is not something we do or follow, but changes who we are. Christ's single sacrifice cleanses us for all time from past, present and future sin. Don't fall back into an old covenant way of thinking where you try to earn your holiness and God's acceptance through works.

In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul sees the church through the lens of Christ, not focusing on their failures or shortcomings. He writes that the church is generous to the needy — giving of their finances and belongings to help those that are less fortunate. The church is loving and involved in each other's lives. We're not only ministered to, but God also uses all of us to minister to others. Finally, we're to be devoted to the service of the Lord, helping in ministries that serve the church. The wellbeing of the church hinges on the members of the body being actively involved in giving, loving and serving, not just attending as spectators.