We’re off on Sunday (28th Feb) traveling to Ndola, Zambia to meet with a group of pastors from Zambia and the DRC. The plan is to meet seeking God for a strategic plan to work together in order to reach Zambia with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We will be attempting to blog our trip. You can follow at http://andycott.tumblr.com/ where there should be daily updates featuring the sights and sounds of Zambia.
I’m in the middle of preparing to travel back to Zambia in a few weeks. This time it’s to Zambia’s second city Ndola, in the north of the country right on the border with the DRC.
While thinking about this trip I remembered an amazing moment while on the Zambezi last year. I thought I’d share it with you.
Very pleased, and proud to present the ‘Chuppets’ Christmas. My daughter plays Mary.
chuppets 09 from andy cottingham on Vimeo.
What’s in a word?
Last week, as part of our sermon, we looked at these two words. There are only 2 letters different between them but their meaning couldn’t be more different or significant. The implications of the difference is quite simply ‘Mind Blowing’!
We are talking here about how we receive Christ’s righteousness.
Is His righteousness imparted or imputed to us?
IMPARTED – this is what teachers attempt to do everyday. They try to get some of their knowledge into the children’s heads. This is an inherently slow process and the results are limited. What tends to happen is that a small amount of the teachers knowledge is imparted. Adding to the child’s existing knowledge.
There is a danger that we think Jesus adds some of His righteousness to us in this way.
So we might think to ourselves ‘I’m essentially a sinner with a bit of Christ’s goodness added on’
This is not what the Bible teaches.
IMPUTED – this means I have the total and complete, fully formed, all-in-one-go righteousness of God at the moment I believe in Jesus. If teachers could do this at school the lessons would be very short indeed.
It’s not that I have had a little bit of righteousness added to my sinfulness, rather he has taken my sinfulness away and replaced it with His righteousness, completely and forever.
So I am no longer a sinner but a saint!!
This is grace and it changes everything.
