June 26, 2026 · David Farmer
Stained Glass Grace
“And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,”
Luke 17:1-3 →
## New Norms
Yes they do! This is something we all know. If you’re not dealing with temptations coming your way, you need to check your pulse. Or you’re not making an effort to live against them. Again, check your pulse. Before I was saved, “temptations” didn’t really “come my way”. One really big sin I became involved in sticks out to me only because of how badly it stepped across a standard moral line my parents raised me with. Many things I used to do stack up my record, but I remember a comforting difference that came to me one day. Knowing Jesus, the worst thing I was now involved with normally was speeding. You’re driving. You look down and notice you’re doing it again. You can make a decision right now to fix it and no repercussions come. It’s a simpler life indeed not having to hide from certain people (Cops) or not having to keep track of running lies that build up on each other...and you. But one thing that safeguards us against larger sins is the guilt we feel about smaller and smaller sins.
## A Million Pieces
So there was a DVD I needed to get rid of when I was a new Christian. I almost gave it to a friend. Then I recalled this concept I had read in Scripture. Sin in that man’s life would then have come through me. I decided instead to throw it in the trash. But I also feared I would retrieve it, so I felt I needed to break it in half. It was a real spiritual lesson in my hand there that day. It bent and bent without showing a sign of breaking. Finally, it did. But it didn’t
break into two half pieces like I thought it would. It exploded into a million pieces and spread out in every direction.
## Self-Check
Sin doesn’t let go of us easily. It will bend with us as we try to break free. We can think we’ll get free of it with certain results, but then “BAM!” It explodes in a million pieces and spreads out in all directions of our lives. Don’t worry if you are a million pieces of brokenness. God is like a Master Stained Glass Artist. Before stained glass can be made, glass must be broken… So you can be one of the stained glasses of God.
## Extend the Cycle