The Case of the Gumball Tooth

The Case of the Gumball Tooth

Kaitlyn put the quarter into the slot and turned the handle on the gumball machine. Reaching into the tray, she removed her prize, but instead of the gumball she expected, she held in her hand a human tooth that still had bits of dried blood and gum.

Kaitlyn screamed and dropped the tooth.

A police officer, standing on the corner, heard her scream and came running over.

“What’s wrong miss?”

Kaitlyn could only point at the tooth.

Detective John Murphy had just sat down at his desk with a fresh cup of coffee when the officer walked up to his desk and placed the folder on it.

“What’s this?” he asked Officer Stephens.

“Just came in. A little girl found a tooth in a Gumball machine in town.”

Murphy opened the folder and glanced through the report. “Okay, thanks,” he said to Stephens and continued to read.

Probably nothing, he thought, probably one of the employees lost their tooth and it accidentally fell on the line. Maybe there was a fight. Then standing and grabbing his coat thought,  I guess I’ll check it out.

His first stop was to the store where the Gumball machine sat.

“I’m Detective Murphy”, he said to the young woman standing behind the register, “Is the manager available?”

The young girl whose badge read beth, picked up the phone, hit the intercom button and with her voice reverberating around the store said, “Cliff to the front register please”.

A few minutes later and tall man in a shirt and tie, wearing a name badge with Cliff on the front, came walking up the center aisle. As he approached, Murphy introduced himself.

“Good afternoon, sir, I’m detective Murphy. I have a few questions for you.”

“Sure,” Cliff said, “what can I do for you.”

Who owns the Gumball machine outside?”

“It’s owned by a small company called Lewis Arcade and Snack Machine. They also own the soda machine out front. What’s this all about?”

“Probably nothing,” Murphy said. “Do you have a contact person?”

“Sure,” and Cliff walk behind the counter, reached into a drawer and pulled out a business card. “This is the guy we call when ther e are problems with the machine. If there are no problems I barely see the guy. He fills the gumball and soda machine regularly and I hardly ever see him.”

Murphy wrote the contact number in his notebook and handed the card back to cliff. Murphy then went back to his car, took his cell phone out of his pocket and called the number.

The phone rang five times  when it was answered, “this is Gregg.”

“Hello Gregg, this is Detective Murphy, do you supply the gumball machine in front of Cliff’s Hardware?”

“Yes,” he answered, “Is there a problem?”

“I was just wondering if you noticed anything different the last time you filled the machine.”

“No,” Gregg answered, “I just opened the box and dumped them in.”

“Where do

The call was answered on the third ring. “Bingo Candy, can I help you?”

“This is Detective John Murphy. I need to talk to someone in your gumball division. Let them know this is a police matter.”

Murphy could hear the phone ring twice. “This is Rob Davis. Who’s calling please?”

Murphy explained the situation to Davis. “We’ve already talked to the man who fills the machine. He told us he gets the gumballs from your company. Do you know how a tooth might end up in one of your boxes of gumballs?”

“The only way I can think of is if the tooth landed on the conveyer belt before the gum was packaged.”

“Any reports of someone losing a tooth?”

“No, but we do have an employee missing.”

The missing employee, Jeff Schmitt, worked the night shift. Murphy questioned the staff. He got lucky on his third interview.

“I had gone on my break,” Alyssa Sanchez said. “I heard two men arguing. I didn’t recognize the man’s voice, but he was accusing Jeff of sleeping with his wife.”

“What time was this?”

“Around 11:30.”

“Did you see them?”

“No, I didn’t want to seem noisy, so I walked away.”

“Do you know if Jeff was having an affair?”

“There were rumors that he was seeing Denise Williams, a woman who also works the night shift. Her husband works days. That’s when they would get together, or so the rumors say.”

“Where were they arguing?”

“Near the break room by the vending machines.”

Murphy found the vending machines. There were three machines. A soda machine, snack and sandwich machines. The soda machine had an “Out of Order” sign on it. He looked around the area. Across from the machines was a railing that overlooked the conveyer belt carrying the gumballs to the packaging area.

So let’s say they struggled here, Murphy thought. Maybe a tooth is knocked loose and lands on the conveyor belt, but then why did Jeff Schmitt disappear after?

Murphy walked to the plants security office. “Do you guys have security camera’s setup in the plant?”

“Only on the entrances and loading docks. The Union prevented us from installing them in the warehouse accusing us of spying on the employees.”

Can you show me the video from two days ago between eleven and twelve PM.

Murphy watched the video. He saw Williams enter the factory at 11:20 and leave at 11:45.

“Do you know Jeff Schmitt?” Murphy asked the security guard.

“I know what he looks like.”

“Can you review the video at the time Jeff would have left work that same night?

The guard watched as the night shift employees left the factory. He then rewound the video and watched again.

“I didn’t see him with the rest of the crowd.”

“Could he have left from a different exit?’

“Not without setting off the alarm.”

So he never left the factory

Murphy stood in front of the broken soda machine. He looked at the lock on the side and saw scratches as if someone had picked it. The companies lock smith arrived fifteen minutes later, opening the machine. Jammed inside was Jeff Schmitt. A quick examination showed he was missing a tooth. His hair was matted with dried blood on the back of his head. There was also a piece of pipe with hair and dried blood visible at one end.

Murphy arrived at the Williams home accompanied by two uniformed officers. Denise answered the door, a black and blue mark that she had tried to hide with makeup, on her left cheek. Mr. Williams walked into the living room, saw the police and turned to run, but the officers grabbed him before he made it to the kitchen where he was arrested.

“How did you figure it out?” Williams asked.

Murphy held up the tooth. “My mother always told me that chewing gum was bad for the teeth. I guess getting hit with a metal pipe is worse.”

To Remember You

To Remember You

By Tom Corizzi

“If you can guess what I have in my pocket, you can have it.”

Tony looked into the eyes of his old adversary and wondered what game he was playing. In the years since his first confrontation with this man in Afghanistan, they had played cat and mouse. Amir was always one step ahead and always disappeared just as Tony was about to capture him.

Tony was a retired Army Ranger. It was only a coincidence that he had been on a subway heading to visit the new Freedom Tower when he saw Amir and followed him to this deserted mosk three blocks from the Tower. Tony knew whatever Amir was planning it was not good and also knew that Amir would not be alone in the mosk, but he entered anyway and was immediately greeted by three men pointing pistols at his head. He stood still as Amir came out of an office off the entrance.

“What is going on?” Amir said.

Seeing Tony, Amir’s face went from annoyance to recognition, shock and then fear. Amir then said something in Farsi that Tony did not understand but resulted in two of the men taking a step back from Tony, but also strengthening the grip on their pistols. The third man opened the door and looked around outside, he told Amir there was no one else in sight.

Amir’s expression lightened as he said, “Hello old friend. I have missed our little game. How is it you are here?”

“I heard you were in town and thought I’d drop by and say hello,” Tony quipped.

Amir smiled, knowing he would not get much more from Tony. Amir had learned the hard way that torture only made this man angry. Many of Amir’s men had died at Tony’s hand and it was only by running that Amir was alive.

Amir knew he should simply kill Tony, something he had tried to do unsuccessfully in the past. But he could not help playing the game one more time before he did.

“So, can you guess what it is? What I have carried in my pocket all these years to remember you by?”

Tony knew.

Amir was too far away to attack. Tony would surely be shot in the back before he could reach him. Instead, Tony spun to his rear, aligning himself with the man behind him. Tony grabbed the man’s neck with his left hand and the hand holding the gun with his right. Tony manipulated the nerves in the man’s neck, paralyzing him in place. Tony then moved the man so he became a shield to attack from his left while pointing the man’s gun hand at the guard to his right. Squeezing the man’s hand harder, the man pulled the trigger of his pistol and the guard to Tony’s right went down. The man on Tony’s left took a shot, but only accomplished shooting Tony’s shield.

Tony then forced the man he was holding, to point his gun at the guard on the left and again, forced him to pull the trigger. The guard on the left went down.

Amir was stock still while this all occurred. Coming to his senses, he turned to do what he did best, he ran.

Tony charged after. Amir had only taken two steps when Tony dove to tackle him. Tony, caught Amir by the waist of his pants with his right hand and Amir’s pocket with his left, which ripped off allowing the contents to fall to the floor.

Tony landed on top of Amir. As Amir tried to get up, Tony hit Amir with a hammer-fist to the back of the neck, knocking Amir unconscious. Tony stood and reached down to pick up what had fallen from Amir’s ripped pocket. It was his own dog tags taken from him ten years ago during one of his confrontations with Amir.

Tony checked the three guards, they were all dead. Tony then secured Amir leaving him tied up “hog style” and left the Mosque looking for a pay phone. Tony’s knew his old drill Sergeant was working for Homeland Security and Tony was going to call and have him collect Amir. As a final touch, Tony left his dog tags hanging around Amir’s neck.

Kaitlyn and the Tooth Fairy

Kaitlyn and the Tooth Fairy

On Saturday morning, while seven-year-old Kaitlyn was walking to the store for milk, she found a quarter on the sidewalk. Looking at the coin, she thought of the Nun who ran the orphanage where she lived. Sister Louise would want her to put the quarter in the collection basket on Sunday. But in front of the store was a gumball machine. Whenever Kaitlyn passed the store, she wished she had money to buy a piece of gum. Today she did. Feeling only a little guilty, she walked up to the machine, put the quarter into the slot and turned the handle. Feeling excited, she opened the candy door and immediately jumped back. What she saw in the tray was not the gumball she expected, but a human tooth. As she stood looking at the tooth, her feelings of revulsion passed and were replaced by curiosity. Walking back to the machine she reached into the tray, took the tooth, and then held it up to examine it closer. Something about it was very familiar.

Two days earlier, Kaitlyn had lost her first tooth. It had happened while she was eating lunch. She had taken the tooth to the girl’s room, washed it off, wrapped it in a tissue and put it in her pocket. She had hoped to prove Sister Louise wrong by leaving the tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Sister Louise was a conservative Catholic and had told the girls, “There is no such thing as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. The only magic in this world are the miracles that God performs.”

But Kaitlyn could not help but believe there were many types of magic.

When she had returned to her room that day, she reached into her pocket for the tooth, but found her pocket empty. Reaching deeper, she found a hole in the bottom of her pocket where the tooth must have fallen through. She started to cry just as Sister Louise was walking past her room.

“What’s the matter Kaitlyn? Why are you crying?”

“I lost my tooth.”

Sister Louise looked into Kaitlin’s mouth and saw the gap between her teeth. Misunderstanding why Kaitlyn was upset she said, “Don’t cry. Everyone loses their teeth. Soon a new one will grow in its place. Now go wash up for dinner.”

Kaitlyn did as she was told and, even though she stopped crying and hid her feelings, she was still upset about the loss.

As she looked at the tooth from the gumball machine, she couldn’t help but think this was her tooth. But how would it have gotten into the machine?  she wondered.

Remembering the hole in her pocket and not wanting to lose this tooth, Kaitlyn clenched it tightly in her fist and walked back to the orphanage. She went into the girl’s bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she held the tooth to the gap in her mouth. 

The tooth was the right size and color. Could it really be the tooth she lost? she thought. Walking back to her room she wasted no time putting the tooth under her pillow. 

Kaitlyn had trouble falling asleep that night. She kept feeling under her pillow, always finding the tooth. Finally, close to midnight, she fell asleep.

The next morning as she slowly woke, she remembered the tooth. She lifted her pillow and found the tooth was gone. In its place was a shiny new quarter. She smiled, feeling sure that, not only had the Tooth Fairy come and left the quarter, but somehow had arranged for her to get the tooth she lost back by putting it into the gumball machine.

The joy she felt came spilling out and she laughed and cried at the same time. With a big smile on her face, she got out of bed and started to dress for church. 

During the Mass, when it was time for collection, Kaitlyn dropped the quarter into the basket, believing it was the right thing to do. As Mass ended, and Kaitlyn walked toward the exit, she looked up toward the ceiling and thought she saw a fairy looking creature, its wings flapping to keep it aloft, smiling down at her.

She smiled back believing that Gods miracles came in many different forms.

Books by Tom Corizzi

http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Needles-Tom-Corizzi-ebook/dp/B00D8L8RAS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384444593&sr=8-2&keywords=tom+corizzi

Complaining

We are in the period of lent. The 40 days of lent represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the devil. It is a time to contemplate our own faith and to pray. It is also a time that we sacrifice and give up something important to us in the same way God gave up his only son to death on the cross for our sins.


Lent is only 40 days long. Moses, one of the greatest of Gods servants, spent 40 years traveling through the desert leading Gods chosen to the Promised Land. Imagine what that was like for him. The sole leader of millions of people. Every one of them bringing their complaints to him. Every conflict between neighbors. He was the judge and jury for all crimes that were committed. You would think that a people who were being led and fed by God would be better behaved knowing God was watching them, but no. They were still human and victim to human temptation. In fact in the first reading we hear that God became so angry at their complaints that he kills many of them. They are consumed by fire because of their complaints.

But as strong as Moses was he cries out to God for help. To help him deal with all of the complaining and God answers his prayer. In the second reading we hear that God decides to help Moses by providing him with a council of 70 Elders to help him lead his people.

Leading is not an easy thing, even when it’s your chosen occupation. Our politicians chose to run for government and chose the lives of leading. Others of us are doing it more out of a sense of obligation to help. Leading and trying to be a good leader doing whats best for everyone isn’t easy.

Moses didn’t choose to lead. Moses was chosen by God. In fact, Moses argued with God. He tried to convince God that he was the wrong person to lead God’s people, God ignored his arguments and kept telling Moses what he needed to do. Moses was in direct communication with God. He knew exactly what was required of him and of the Israelites. He was chosen to lead his people out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. He was given the 10 commandments directly from God as well as the laws for the nation listed in the book of Leviticus and Numbers. There was no conflict in him on what needed to be done. It was the people who had problems with what they were told, even though they knew Moses was talking directly to God. Even though they depended on God for the manna every morning and evening to survive. Even though they had witnessed God’s wrath, not only against the Egyptians, but against themselves. They still complained.

As I have learned over the past 8 years here at Montclair heights church working with Vinnie and Bob and others, leading a church is not easy. For me, there are things I wanted from the church for myself which did not always match what the congregation wanted. Even what the congregation wants is not consistent between congregants. As Jodi joked yesterday, when two or more are gathered in God’s name there is conflict.

The consistory has always had the tough job of trying to make as many people as happy as they can, while also trying to keep in mind what God asks of his church and his people. When leading, the question that has always been in my mind, is what does God want and how do I lead in that way?

6 years ago I was chosen to be on the consistory by the congregation and I hope by God. In that time I’ve been on the consistory there has been complaining from the congregation to Beverly and the consistory, and between Beverly and the consistory on how the church should be run. Sometimes for little things that could be solved quickly and sometimes for more important things that took time.

For two years building up to Beverly’s resignation, members of the church came to me and other members of the consistory to complain about her. Beverly also heard a lot of complaints from the congregation and part of her problem was trying to deal with the complaints and still run the church the way she felt God was calling her to.

This was a tough time for the church and many people left, which caused more complaining to the consistory and you all know where that lead.

Here we are, over a year since Beverly left and the consistory has been working with the Classis to keep the church going. In the past year we still worked to do what we thought was the best for the church and the congregation while doing what God asked of us. But just as in Moses time, there was still complaining from both sides, the congregation and the consistory.

Once again we find ourselves at a turning point. Once again the future of the church is in question and once again the consistory is endeavoring to do what it can.

But just like Moses, we also know that only by the grace of God and with his blessing can we continue.

God had a purpose for the nation of Israel which included the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ to save the world. If you know your history, the Nation of Israel did not last long after Christ’s crucifixion. In 70 AD the temple was destroyed by the Romans. God’s plan for that nation was fulfilled through Christ and was no longer necessary. Israel as a nation ended and it’s people scattered around the world. It wasn’t until 1967 that a new Israel emerged to start again.

So what is God’s plan for our church. Will we continue? Has God fulfilled his purpose with this congregation? Will we, as the people of Israel, spread out to other churches and Congregations?

Tomorrow night we have a consistory meeting to discuss our future..

I invite you all to think about what this church means to you. Are you willing to change for it to continue? I ask that you pray for the consistory that we have the strength to know what we should do and lastly, pray that God’s will be done for the church and within our own lives.

The Lords Prayer

The Lords Prayer
Matthew 6:6-15 (NT, pg. 5-6)


I’d like to start with a prayer that may sound familiar to you.


Our father in heaven
May your name be honored
May your Kingdom come soon
May your will be done here on earth just as it is in Heaven
Give us our food for today
And Forgive us our sins
Just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us
And don’t let us lead to temptation
But deliver us from the evil one.

From The New Believer Bible

How about this one.

Our Father in Heaven
Reveal who you are
Set the world right
Do what’s best as above, so below
Keep us alive with three square meals
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others
Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil
You’re in charge
You can do anything you want
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes, Yes, Yes

From The Message Bible

Both of those prayers are versions of the Lords Prayer and the same chapter and verse as Jodi read to you this morning.

My Sermon this morning is on “The Lords Prayer”, or as I called it growing up. “The Our father.”

Here’s one more from the bible in front of you

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial." Luke 11

When I was growing up, the Lord’s Prayer was my favorite prayer for two reasons. One, it was the only prayer I knew by heart. I didn’t know the Apostles creed nor did I know prayers such as the “Hail Mary” which is not just a type of pass in football, but an actual Catholic prayer.

For those of you who know me you can imagine I was a pretty active child. If you need confirmation you can just ask my parents who probably still have nightmares about the trouble I got into. So the second reason the Lords prayer was my favorite was because it meant Mass was almost over and I could go home and play with my friends.

For most of my life, The Lords Prayer was mostly white noise. It was, and is, a prayer we say every week. Most of us can say it in our sleep. We’ve said it so often that we could probably do our taxes in our head at the same time.

But more recently I’ve given a lot of thought to the words and their meaning.

This prayer is the only prayer taught to us by our Lord Jesus so you have to imagine it’s a pretty powerful prayer. It contains all we ever need to pray to God.

There are some of us that find it easy to pray to God. I myself pray through conversation with God. Others know how to ask for specific requests. We pray for others to get well. We pray that God will help us with our finances. We pray that our favorite team wins the super bowl, or world series. Some even pray to win the lottery or for a fancy car. There is nothing wrong with these prayers even though some of them may seem selfish. But if you really want to pray to God and you’re not sure how, the Lord’s prayer contains everything, as you can imagine it would, being taught to us by Jesus.

The Lord’s prayer is captured in two of the gospels. Matthew, as in our reading today and in Luke chapter 11 as I read before.

In Mathew, the prayer is taught during the Sermon on the Mount including Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you shall find.

Jesus was teaching the multitudes of followers how to pray. So what did this prayer mean to them and what should it mean to us today.

Our Father who art in heaven

Our acknowledgment that there is God in heaven and he is our Father.
Not to be sexist as in God is male, but that he is our provider as the men were in the time Jesus taught.

Hallowed be thy name.

We who are praying acknowledging that God is Holy

Thy Kingdom come

Our knowing that this is still a Kingdom of men and waiting and asking for Gods Kingdom to come amongst us as it was promised in the old testament to those who first heard Jesus words, and as it is promised to us.

Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven

Not our will. Not the will of men, but Gods will be done.
If we had our way, God would save our Church because it’s what we want. But what does God want. What is Gods will for, not only our church, but in our lives.
So for our Church, should we be praying that our wishes be done, or that God’s will concerning our church be done. How about in our every day lives.






Give us this day our daily bread

This was very significant to those who were listening to Jesus. All knew the story of Moses and the Israelites as they traveled through the desert. Each day, God provided Manna, bread from heaven. Every morning and every evening God provided Manna and the Israelites would collect it. God provided food while they traveled and they had to have faith that God would provide. In fact, any manna they tried to hoard during the day spoiled so they had to learn to trust that God would provide for them. In the same way we can have faith that God will provide food to us.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

The term Debtors meant more to the Israelites than just “Sin”. The Israelites celebrated a Holiday every 49 years called Jubilee. During this year long celebration all debts, no matter how large, were forgiven. All land was returned to its original owner. Anyone who had sold themselves into slavery, were released. All was forgiven.

When I was growing up we said forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. I can remember as a child thinking that meant that if someone cut across my lawn that I should forgive them for trespassing.

The term trespass comes from the verse following the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew that reads.

For if you forgive men there trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you
But if you do not forgive others neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

I prefer the interpretation

“And Forgive us our sins
Just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us”

It’s clearer, but the message is the same.

If we want God to forgive our sins we need to learn to forgive others.

According to this passage forgiveness does not come without learning to forgive. Something we all need to give thought to.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

I don’t like the phrasing of this translation. It sounds as if God himself leads us to sin. But that’s not true. Human nature is Sin nature. We can’t even blame Satan for leading us into sin. We are capable of getting ourselves in trouble without help from anyone.

How about

Do not subject us to the final test
But deliver us from the evil one.

The New American Bible


What we are praying for is for God to give us the strength to ignore temptation.

For thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever.

If only we could truly live that last statement. Everything is Gods. We’re just borrowing.

How should we use the Lord’s Prayer

We can use the Lord’s Prayer for any aspect of our lives that we’re not sure what to pray for. Just think about what you want it is you want God to help you with. Whether it’s a financial problem as we have here at the church. It may be it a health problem, either yours, a friend or a family member. No matter what’s on your mind, think about it and say the Lords prayer and have the faith the God’s will, will be done.

Please stand and if you feel comfortable, take the hand of the person on either side of you and say with me the words that our Lord taught us.

What is Sin

In my last sermon I spoke about faith. I told you that faith was responding to what God has asked us to do. Today I want to talk about sin. Not in a Fire and brimstone way, but more of defining what sin is.

First the good news, Jesus died on the cross so that all our sins would be forgiven.

Now the bad news, there is no bad news. We are forgiven. We are forgiven for all the sins we have committed and all the sins we will commit.

But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t sinners and shouldn’t strive to reduce sin in our lives. Notice I didn’t say eliminate sin in our lives, because that would be impossible. Only Jesus was sinless, only Jesus was perfect. We can only strive for perfection. We can never attain it.

But in order to reduce sin, we need to know what sin is.

In the same way faith is a response to God’s word, sin is the opposite. It is ignoring God’s word. Ignoring what God has told us not to do and ignoring what God has told us to do. It’s believing that we are in control of our own lives and we don’t need God.

There are Sins of action and Sins of inaction.

Let’s look at the original sin as Jodi read to us.

God tells Adam that he should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice that it isn’t an apple tree or any other kind of fruit we know of today. It is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now, the bible doesn’t tell us how eve is told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She is created after God tells Adam no to eat of it, but she apparently knows as she explains to the serpent that God said they can eat of all trees but the tree in the middle of the garden. We can assume that she heard it from Adam and not God directly, because as we read from the bible, the serpent asks her, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ He questions her knowing the God did not tell her directly.
Did God say?

Notice that the serpent went to Eve and not to Adam. Adam would have been sure of what God said, and probably sent him away. Instead he goes to Eve and seduces her with how appealing the fruit looks. That eating the fruit will make her like God and so she eats the fruit.

In this way he deceives Eve into eating the apple thus ignoring God’s will and committing the first sin.

Now, Eve gets a bad rap through history. She did sin and it was the first sin, but she was deceived.

Adam, on the other hand, jumps into sin fully knowing what he was doing. He did it out of the love for Eve, knowing that God will punish her and he will lose her. So Adam joins Eve in her sin.

The punishment for their sin is harsh. They are expelled from the Garden of Eden, they need to work to survive, Eve, and all women, are punished with the pain of child birth. Death enters the land and more if you care to read it in Genesis chapter 3.

So that was the first sin. The second sin speaks to is when Cain kills Able and the punishment placed upon Cain.

The bible then jumps to the story of Noah. Sin becomes so rampant throughout the world that God has to wipe out all mankind with the exception of Noah and his family to start again. But in doing so, God promises that the next time he destroys the world will be judgment day.

God expects mankind to obey his commands but it’s not until Exodus and the 10 commandments that we get a clearer idea of what is expected of us.

Lets look at them quickly.

1- You shall have no other gods before me.
This includes any type of addictions. Drugs, alcohol etc. Addiction only serves to separate you from God.

2- You shall not take the lords name in vain.
3 - Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
To the Israelites that was Saturday. For us, everyday is Holy. Everyday belongs to God.

4 - Honour your father and your mother.
5 - You shall not murder.
6 - You shall not commit adultery.
7 - You shall not steal.
8 - You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. No lying.
9 - You shall not covet your neighbour’s house;
1 0 do not covet your neighbour’s wife, or anything else for that matter.
To Covet. To wish for earnestly, to desire.
To even wish for something you don’t have that others have is a sin. Even if you live in a monastery devoid of any material possessions and have achieved true enlightenment you can’t get away from sin. We can get close, but God has made it impossible for us to be sinless. Why?

Remember the good news.

God has made it impossible for us to be sinless but he has sent Jesus to teach us that we need God in our lives and we are redeemed through his sacrifice.

After the ten commandments, God gives the Israelites the laws in Leviticus. If you read the laws in Leviticus you will see what God demanded of them. Punishment for sins, even capital punishment, was how the people of Israel handled those who broke the law.

Leviticus was a contract between God and the Israelites. Another word for contract is covenant. That’s a word you may be familiar with. There is much debate amongst Christians on whether or not we are to follow the laws stated in Leviticus. I personally don’t believe we are because we have a new contract.

A new covenant that was put into place by our Lord Jesus Christ.

That new covenant tells us very simply what God is asking us. Simple to understand, but in some ways more difficult to follow. A new way to deal with sin. Jesus says we must love everyone and we must forgive everyone. All that we do should be based on those two simple commandments. As Jesus said, and we say almost every week in church when we hear the summary of the law.

Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. And our neighbor is everyone else in the world whether we know them or not. So sin to a Christian is not loving others the way God loves us. Not showing God our faith and doing what God has asked of us and not doing what God has told us not to do.

So to reduce sin in our lives we need to love. We need to show our love to Gos, to Jesus and to the world around us.

So to sum up.
We are sinners and we always will be.
We should strive to become better people and reduce the sin in our lives
We should love God and Love all mankind, though we may not always love the actions and should reject sin in all its forms.
We should not judge ourselves or others for their sins for we are all forgiven.
We should do what we can to show our love for God and his children around the world.