I want to take some time to emphasise the importance of the church. We are going to do that for the next couple of months as we remind ourselves how important the church of Jesus is to us.

I have called this series Grace and Grit because I want us to look at some of the grittier aspects of church life – the parts we often do not emphasise. The grace of Jesus at work in us leads us into what we could call tough love, and so we will be looking at some of the more difficult aspects of being the church – how to love each other through the hard times, how to admonish and encourage one another especially when we are falling into temptation to sin and giving in. How do we allow the Lord to discipline us through the church and how do we exercise forgiveness and true reconciliation between brother and sisters in Christ.

In this passage we see a lot of Spitting, of Sighing and yet of Seeing!