Prepare: Bring a small LEGO set or some other toy that comes apart or needs to be solved.  Have a cross handy, it could be one that is already in your worship space, or you could bring one that might have special meaning for you.  For example, I wear the same cross every day as a reminder of my faith.

 Have the toy out as people arrive.  Ask them what makes LEGO toys so fun.  Steer them toward the idea that they can be made into other things, or that a puzzle can be solved over and over.  You get the idea!

 Yes!  LEGOs are often really fun because you can remake them!  I think that the best part about LEGOs is that you can keep building them.  Sometimes I even take them apart just to put them back together!  I’m the same way with puzzles.  I like to mess up my Rubix Cube just so I can solve it again.

I was thinking of this when I read the story from Romans today.  It’s really that first sentence that made me think of it.

“Should we continue in sin so that grace may abound?”

OK – that’s really just a fancy way of saying, “Should I go do something bad just to give Jesus a chance to forgive me?”

NO!  But it does sound like how I feel about LEGOs and puzzles, doesn’t it?  Paul, the person who wrote this story, thinks about Jesus’ forgiveness a different way.  We believe that Jesus died to give us freedom from our sins.  It’s not that Jesus likes forgiving us, but rather that Jesus loves us.  When someone I love does something to upset me, it’s not that I like to forgive them, but that I love them and want to keep the relationship strong – so I forgive!

It is the same with God.  You are so loved that God would do anything to keep you close – even send Jesus to die.

 Gracious God, we can never thank you enough for your love and forgiveness.  Be always near us as we strive to live in loving and gracious ways.  Amen

 God loves you always.

 Get a bunch of blank puzzle pieces for people to write short prayers on (Or use the back of an old puzzle).  Invite them to take the pieces home as reminders that God always works to put us back together, and to keep us close.