Sunday Recap On Tuesday

On Tuesday's I hope to post some thoughts from the lesson that was previously taught at Merge the Sunday before...

Series: Other People
Lesson: Other People Need Forgiveness
Text: Luke 23:34; Matthew 18:21-35

Some Thoughts:
---A major factor in us being "successful" at Merge has to do with your willingness to engage "other people" in hopes that those who are far God will find life through Christ.

---Let's see what happens when we actually follow Jesus' lead rather than just say we are.

---One of the most absurd verses I find in all of scripture is Luke 23:34. The very people who thought they were murdering Jesus, He is pleading with our Heavenly Father to forgive them.

---If we are going to follow Jesus with our whole lives as we claim we do as Christians, we MUST learn to forgive other people for the wrongs they have done as we follow Jesus as the model and perfector of our faith.

---Let me tell you why I have in the past found it difficult to forgive other people. When someone has wounded me, my instinct is to get even. They took something from me and I want at least equal value in return or more. My problem with forgiveness is that it doesn't seem to balance the equation. In fact, it feels at times as if the one who did the wounding is getting off with a win.

---Sadly, most of the time we withhold forgiveness expecting equal return, there is no way they can make it right. If I break a plate I can replace it. But how do you replace a broken heart, lost time, lost opportunities?

Matthew 18:21-35

---We are all servants in the debt of the King where there is no possible way to repay the offense done to Him apart from His graceful and merciful forgiveness because of Jesus.

---Jesus says, "You want to know what is ludicrous? When you walk around not forgiving for relational wounds that don't even come close to the magnitude of the forgiveness your Heavenly Father has made available to you."

---A transformed heart must result in a changed life that offers the same mercy and forgiveness that has received from God.

4 Steps toward Forgiveness:
1. Identify with whom you are angry with.
2. Determine what they owe you.
3. Cancel the Debt.
4. Dismiss the Case.

---If you do believe that God's Word is infallible and is one of the greatest ways to find direction and wisdom, then you can't just pick and choose the parts you want to submit too. You can't take the sections that make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside and ignore the areas that cause discomfort.

---The One who is telling us to live lives of mercy and forgiveness prayed for His enemies at a time we would have been lashing out in anything but love.

Heart and Soul,
BAG
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