1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,520 That's my alarm clock for the next week 100%. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:07,000 That was amazing 250 years happy belated birthday to this 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,680 country. Come on somebody 1776 who is 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,680 there for that make sure no time travels in this place or nothing 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,160 like that. But it's such a special I'm I'm 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,080 so grateful I'm about you. I love this country. 7 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:26,280 Who here either you or your family or say your parents 8 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,120 migrated over here from a different country. 9 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,880 Wow, look at the hands. That is so amazing. 10 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,680 I don't for some reason, sometimes this holiday can be 11 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:38,040 controversial. It should not be. 12 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,040 I'll give you a small example. Couple of years ago I was doing 13 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,400 travel around the country, part of a missions organization and 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,480 one of the guys that I was with, his name was Somsai and he was 15 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,160 from a country called Laos. And we were in this worship 16 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:54,120 service and after the worship service, he was bawling his eyes 17 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:56,040 out, just crying. But it wasn't just like a 18 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,160 worship cry. It was like a, a hurtful, 19 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,760 painful cry. And after what I asked him, you 20 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:02,160 know, hey, brother, what's what's going on? 21 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,599 Are you OK? And he looked at me dead in my 22 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:08,800 eye with tears down his face. And he said, I wish I could do 23 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,960 this in my country. So if there's any reason to 24 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:14,640 celebrate the freedom that we have, it's the freedom to be 25 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,760 able to worship our King and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. 26 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,560 Today we're going to be in Matthew chapter 18. 27 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,560 If you're going to open up your Bibles, if you need a Bible, 28 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:30,720 raise your hand. We have ushers to give you 29 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:32,040 Bibles. I just want to get to the text 30 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,560 now that we were ready to go rock locking and loading. 31 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,760 I guess I was moving so crazy last service that I was like 32 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:39,800 sweating that Bruno came up to me was like, brother, are you 33 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:41,880 OK? I was like, I think I think I'm 34 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,120 OK. But so here we are. 35 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,000 Second service, grateful to be here. 36 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,760 Matthew chapter 18. You can open up to that text 37 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,440 now. Now I would say this, well, I'll 38 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,480 let me start here. We're talking about the unveiled 39 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:58,000 Kingdom, which is Jesus revealing his reign and rule on 40 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,640 this earth. What does it mean to live as 41 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:02,960 Kingdom people? We've been walking through, we 42 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,320 walk through Genesis now we're walking through the parables and 43 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,680 Jesus is giving us truths in the context, or I would say in the, 44 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,440 in a, the form of a story, what he would call a parable. 45 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,400 And so for us, our goal is the Lord's Prayer. 46 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,400 Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy 47 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,920 Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 48 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,880 So the prayer is not for us to one day get to heaven, although 49 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,720 I hope to be there and be face to face with glory. 50 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:39,040 My prayer today is that we would see heaven on earth. 51 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:41,960 That's the prayer of Jesus and that's my prayer for this 52 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,080 message. And I would argue that what 53 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,480 we're going to be talking about today is one of the number one 54 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,160 reasons that that reality we do not see many times in our lives. 55 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,760 I would argue that this is one of the most important stories 56 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,720 that Jesus talks about. And I would say the reason why 57 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:03,440 many of us in this room can walk foot into church and walk out 58 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,680 the door and not experience freedom. 59 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,440 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 60 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,840 And part of that freedom is wrapped up in the Word of God in 61 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,360 our lives. When we can just understand and 62 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,600 walk in obedience to His Word, we can experience freedom. 63 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,120 And so my hope and prayer is if you're someone in this life that 64 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,760 has not or in this time has not experienced freedom, I believe 65 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,760 that for you today. Jesus said, if you have the 66 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,560 faith of a mustard seed, the smallest seed, if you have that 67 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,760 kind of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ can move mountains in 68 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,720 your life. So and I believe that for you 69 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,320 today. Do you believe that for yourself 70 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,920 that God can change your life by the power of his Spirit and by 71 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,640 the word of God? I believe that for you a year 72 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,560 and a half ago, which is crazy how time flies. 73 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,560 My mom said when you get older, time flies. 74 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:52,720 She was right. OK, I don't know. 75 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,480 You hit 30 years old and then you're just like the you're just 76 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,080 the timeline just speeding up. A year and a half ago is when I 77 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,240 started here at Illuminate Church, and I was just getting 78 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,320 used to the staff. I was a week into learning about 79 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,720 the role I serve as a high school and young adults pastor. 80 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:08,480 What? What any of any of y'all here? 81 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:09,920 All three of you. OK, OK. 82 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:11,040 All right. Thank God. 83 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:11,640 All right. They're here. 84 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:13,560 Like what? Pastor Davis preaching. 85 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,160 We're not heading in. And I remember a year and a half 86 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:22,200 ago, the week of I walk into my office and I see like these, 87 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,800 these crumbs are like almost like ceiling tiled dust on my 88 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,200 table. And I was like trying to figure 89 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,920 out like what is going on here? And I and I, I'm, I'm looking 90 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,920 around and all of a sudden I look up. 91 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:42,920 That's Mr. Bean in my ceiling. So we have a Mr. Bean caricature 92 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,320 that gets moved around and someone with a ladder put Mr. 93 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,920 Bean in my ceiling tile. I literally died. 94 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:54,320 OK, I got brought back to life. I 100% died and I'm still trying 95 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,080 to forgive whoever did that. Maybe a staff member and her 96 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,560 name starts with AT. OK, but I'm not going to tell 97 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,280 you who. You just got to look on the the 98 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:04,960 Illuminate Church website. Still trying to forgive them to 99 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,080 this day. And I think that it's kind of 100 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,480 funny because if you think about it, like, think about your life, 101 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,640 right? If you imagine the most fun 102 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,600 times, the most enjoyous times, the times we've experienced, 103 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,760 like peak life, I almost guarantee you in some sense it 104 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,080 was with someone, right? It was in the context of 105 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:22,760 relationships, someone you were with. 106 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,680 Like, think of those glorious times, a wedding, a marriage, a 107 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:30,320 vacation, a graduation. Like, yeah, it might have been 108 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,280 an achievement for yourself, but what's so special is being able 109 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:34,920 to celebrate that with other people. 110 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:40,200 Our greatest moments and joys in life are in the context of 111 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:46,080 relationship with each other. But also, if you look back on 112 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:51,480 your life, I almost guarantee you that most of, if not all of 113 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,760 the hardest times of your life are also with people. 114 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,720 So this thing, this gift called relationship that God gives us 115 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,080 that we can walk in and experience and joy is also the 116 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:09,800 root of a of a lot of our pain. So much pain, so much so that we 117 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,080 can live years and decades of our life still living in that 118 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,760 pain that was caused by someone else. 119 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:21,320 A family member, a friend, a coworker, a boss, a manager, a 120 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,680 pastor, and whoever it is, they can be the cause of trauma and 121 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,080 pain that we carry with us for the rest of our lives. 122 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,800 And I hope and I pray that today you can walk out of here and not 123 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:38,080 have to carry the weight that you were never designed to 124 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,960 carry. I carried that weight for years. 125 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,440 I'm so familiar with that story. Looks like to carry that burden 126 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:48,240 when I was I was born in Los Angeles, CA Any Cali people here 127 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,200 in the house? Let's go. 128 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:51,600 All right, That's what I'm talking about. 129 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:53,440 And I lived there for five years. 130 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,400 OK, so not I was born there was not raised. 131 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,760 I visit later, but I love California as far as I can 132 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:00,920 remember. I think it was good. 133 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,160 I was 5 and I moved. My parents got divorced. 134 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,400 I was five years old, and my mom took me and my three other 135 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,400 siblings to New York shortly after we moved there. 136 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:12,840 Yet again, I'm about 5 years old. 137 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,640 She met my stepfather, who was a retired drill instructor. 138 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,280 And so he's someone that served in two decades, over 2 decades 139 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,200 in our military. By the way, if you served in 140 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,520 this country, thank you, thank you, thank you. 141 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:31,840 We would not be free if not for those that paid the sacrifice. 142 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,000 And so you I just want to say you can imagine maybe what his 143 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:41,560 household was like. My household was like it was one 144 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,360 of the, if not the hardest experiences of my life was being 145 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,440 in that household. Like like when I was be at 146 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,520 friend's house, their their punishments for doing wrong 147 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,560 things was like you can't play video games for me. 148 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,920 My punishments were like, hey, you can't have electricity in 149 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,920 your room till to this day. It wasn't until I was literally 150 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,800 16 years old that I lived with air conditioning and it gets 151 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,640 hot. OK, or it was like something 152 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,480 like this. My room was in the basement of 153 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,320 our house. And my punishment for not being 154 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,600 a good child or whatever the issue was, was you could not 155 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,200 turn up the heat the pellet stove in the basement to be able 156 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:24,000 to warm up the room. So I remember being 12/11/13 157 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:28,560 years old, literally in my covers trying to hide from the 158 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,600 frigid cold and I was not provided a solution. 159 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,840 And on top of that, it was things like I was not able to 160 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,919 shower back in the day. They had those little sand 161 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:39,360 timers, you know, like the little minute in the board 162 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,760 games. I had two minutes to shower. 163 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,440 And by the way, it wasn't when the water got warm, it was just 164 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,720 when the water turned on. So I would get 2 minutes, the 165 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,320 timer would go, I would turn on the water, I'd be freezing, I'd 166 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,200 wash my body, try and put shampoo. 167 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,800 I'd turn the water off, try and clean myself, turn the water 168 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,320 back on. Many, many times I would be left 169 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,680 with shampoo in my hair, soap all over me because the time for 170 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:06,320 my shower had ran out. Other times it was like if you 171 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,040 did this wrong thing, you wouldn't be able to eat 172 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:14,120 breakfast or lunch or dinner. I was 90, under 90 lbs as a high 173 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,360 schooler. I was so light because for, for 174 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,440 really lack of nutrition that they did not even have a 175 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,320 wrestling weight class for my weight. 176 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:25,160 And that's the environment that I grew up in. 177 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,640 And on top of that, it was the words, it was the slander, it 178 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,160 was the anger, it was the screaming, it was the yelling. 179 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,880 It was all the time walking on egg shells. 180 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,560 And I would be lying to you if I didn't say there was bitterness 181 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:39,520 growing over time, year by year. My three older siblings left. 182 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,600 A year later, my my older brother Danny left. 183 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,200 A few years later, when my sister was 16 years old, she 184 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:46,320 left. She wanted to get out of the 185 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,520 house. My brother made it to graduation 186 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,960 at 17. At 17 years old, he's like, I 187 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,280 got to get out of here. And every single year a sibling 188 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,360 would leave. It got harder and harder and 189 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,360 harder and to the point I was 15 years old. 190 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,360 If I were to be honest, I would say I did not want to live 191 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,160 anymore. That's where I was at. 192 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:07,320 And so I remember crying out to God and, and anger and 193 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,680 frustration and I said either I'm not going to live anymore or 194 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:13,520 I have to get out of here. A few months later, right before 195 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,880 I turned 16, I was going to be babysitting my cousin in New 196 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,360 Jersey and I thought, this is my escape plan. 197 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,320 So I was like, well, I'm going to bring all of the stuff that I 198 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:27,880 have and I'm going to take a one way flight out of New Jersey to 199 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,800 Florida, where my dad was living at the time, and I'm going to 200 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,240 buy a one way or I'm not going to buy. 201 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,280 I ain't got money, OK? My dad is going to buy a one way 202 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,360 flight ticket and I'm never coming back. 203 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:42,560 And so at that time I had saved up about $900, which when you're 204 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:47,360 15 years old, brother, that's like $80 million, OK, 900 bucks 205 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,640 in my bank account. And I purchased this computer, 206 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,160 which is like my prized possession, this big old clunky 207 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,680 computer. And I was trying to figure out a 208 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,120 way to get it in the car because I didn't want to let anyone 209 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:58,880 know. And so here I am. 210 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,840 I bring the monitor out. My mom's like, what are you 211 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,200 bringing a monitor? And then I bring this big old 212 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,880 suitcase, which was my, which was my computer. 213 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,360 And at that moment, she realized that I was moving out. 214 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,080 I wasn't coming back. I'll never forget this moment on 215 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:19,280 my driveway, 15 years old, my mom and I are playing tug of war 216 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,800 with my suitcase back bag and going back and forth and 217 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,800 screaming and yelling and cursing. 218 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,880 And I was at the end of myself. I did not even care anymore. 219 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,480 And my stepfather, he gets on the back porch and he's looking 220 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,320 at me. And my stepfather was one of the 221 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,520 scariest men I've ever met in my life. 222 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:38,840 And he looked at me and he screamed, what are you doing? 223 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,600 And I remember looking in the eye and said, I hate you. 224 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:47,680 I hate this place and I'm never coming back again. 15 years old. 225 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:51,880 It was the first time I saw I wouldn't even say resentment. 226 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,720 It was hurt and pain in his eyes. 227 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,240 I've never seen that before and I think in that moment he 228 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:02,680 realized he had gone too far. And so I left 15 years old hate 229 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:07,960 in my heart, bitterness and anger and I kept my promise for 230 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:11,120 years. So when it comes to this idea of 231 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,360 unforgiveness or forgiveness, I am someone that walked that 232 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,920 path, that lived that life, that knows what it means to carry 233 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:24,840 burdens and pains in our life. I know what it's like not 234 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,240 wanting to forgive. I know what it's like to carry 235 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,040 the burden of that pressure. And some of you, if you were to 236 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,040 be honest, you would be in that place right now. 237 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,120 And I want to encourage you and say Jesus knew in his infinite 238 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,120 wisdom that relationships would be messy. 239 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,640 Jesus knew that we would experience traumas, and Jesus 240 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,360 knew so much that he showed us a better way. 241 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,000 Jesus showed us a way to deal with our mess That happens in 242 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,560 relationships because Jesus knows the most beautiful 243 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:01,880 experiences are in relationship. When we think about our faith 244 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,720 walk, the most beautiful thing is that we have a relationship 245 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:06,240 with God. And guess what? 246 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,360 Jesus also saved all of these other people that are Kingdom 247 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,200 people and we are here from different countries and nations 248 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,360 and backgrounds and languages all as the family of God. 249 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:18,160 Is that not a beautiful picture of what God can do? 250 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:22,120 It's so beautiful what the Lord can do and the life of someone 251 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,320 bringing people together. And so he wants to show us a 252 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:27,120 better way. So right before we get to 253 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,280 Matthew 18, Jesus reveals his glory. 254 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:31,320 It's called the Mount of Transfiguration. 255 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,040 He gives a bunch of teachings about what does it mean to be 256 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,360 Kingdom people. So they recognize that Jesus had 257 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,800 a level of authority. He talks about those who are the 258 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,240 greatest are those who are the most humble. 259 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,920 And then Jesus talks about you cannot give in to temptation. 260 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,680 He says it's better to be without an eye or a foot to me 261 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:52,480 thrown into hell. Pretty intense language. 262 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:56,040 But and then he goes to say this, but yet your father 263 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:01,080 rejoices when one lost sheep ran away from God and yet comes back 264 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,800 home. And this is where we start in 265 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,880 verse 15. Jesus says this, if your brother 266 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:12,960 sins against you, go tell him his fault between you and him 267 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,560 alone. If he listens to you, you have 268 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:17,880 won your brother. Now this is important because 269 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,840 this is the second time in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus 270 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:23,600 uses the word church or ecclesia. 271 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,480 So this is so in other words, if there's two times, if Jesus is 272 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,600 saying this is what my church is like, the first time was in 273 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,720 Matthew chapter 16 when Peter makes the confession that Jesus 274 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,960 Christ is the Messiah, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 275 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,680 So the bedrock of this church, Jesus says on this rock, I will 276 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:46,200 build my ecclesia on this rock. I will build my church on this 277 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,520 confession of my lordship of me being the Messiah. 278 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:55,160 And then he says that one more time in chapter 18 and talking 279 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,160 about reconciliation with people. 280 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:03,120 In other words, Jesus says the bedrock of my church is not just 281 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,920 a confession of of my lordship in me being the Messiah, but 282 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,720 it's also how do we deal with conflict. 283 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,720 The foundation of a church is a healthy people that can manage 284 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:20,200 conflict well, and my prayer is that we would be a model of what 285 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,120 Jesus wants us to do. So what is Jesus doing here? 286 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:29,400 He's laying out a process, God's process for wholeness and 287 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,480 restoration. He gives us three steps here. 288 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:37,200 The first step is to share the truth on honestly and privately 289 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,760 with the goal of unity. Share the truth honestly and 290 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,360 privately with the goal of unity. 291 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,680 Now, in the Roman Empire, this was a little bit countercultural 292 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,040 because when people got an arguments, they would gather as 293 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:55,440 many people as possible to get on their side so that way they 294 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,040 would be honored again. So when there was an issue and 295 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,720 there was a tension, there was an issue about my honor and how 296 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,360 people should be treating me. And so I'm going to gather 297 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,560 family members, members, council members, government members, I'm 298 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,880 going to bring them so that way we can be reconciled. 299 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,560 But reconciliation was really just you saying that I'm right 300 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,200 and me being honored again. And what's interesting is Jesus 301 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,120 actually tells us the reason why we share the truth. 302 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:22,440 You might have missed it at the end of verse 16. 303 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:27,840 He says if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 304 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:33,280 In other words, when it comes to disagreements and tension, the 305 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:37,200 goal of a Christ follower living in the Kingdom of God is for 306 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,000 them rather than for you. And that flips the whole 307 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000 perspective because when we go into a disagreement and we're 308 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,080 frustrated with someone, is not our goal to tell them how I 309 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,280 feel. It's not our goal to tell them 310 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,680 what I how I am, right? It's not our goal to to walk out 311 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,760 of there with a level of pride and conviction that I was the 312 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,360 one who was right. But Jesus says a Christ 313 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,320 follower, Kingdom culture type people, my goal and disagreement 314 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,960 is to win you over to unity. Again, that's something 315 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,079 different and that's something unique. 316 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:13,240 And unfortunately, a lot of us, I would say, has a pattern or a 317 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,440 behavior that we exhibit when we are sinned against. 318 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:21,280 For some of you, you like to withdraw from your pain and hide 319 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,599 it inside. You're someone that just bottles 320 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:25,040 us up. Like you just kind of ignore it. 321 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:26,960 You let it go. Typically, though, when you 322 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,200 bottle something up for too long, it tends to explode. 323 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:31,320 For some of you, it's to isolate, right? 324 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,440 When someone sins against you, I'm not going to talk to them. 325 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:35,160 I'm going to go some. I'm going to run away. 326 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,880 I'm going to hide some of you. It's to get angry. 327 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,680 You lash out, which caused the situation to be even worse. 328 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,440 You're trying to tell them how you really fear feel and anger. 329 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:47,640 And some of you, it's to get passive aggressive. 330 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,280 You're not aggressively trying to condemn them, but you're 331 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:53,680 passively doing it. So you can say, well, I didn't 332 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,520 always say anything bad, but you're taking shots behind their 333 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:57,840 back. I call them jabs. 334 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:00,040 You know what I'm talking about, passive aggressiveness. 335 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:01,960 Or for some of you, it's even to run. 336 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,280 And for me, that was my solution. 337 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:09,040 When I left New York and I moved away to Jacksonville, I then 338 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,240 moved to Gainesville and then I moved to San Diego and then I 339 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:16,360 moved to Phoenix, AZ and then I moved to Georgia and then I 340 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:17,680 moved to Winston, North Carolina. 341 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:18,760 Then I moved back home to New York. 342 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,240 And then I moved. And all of these moves was 343 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,080 because I was trying to run away from the pain. 344 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,040 But the fact is, you can't run away from bitterness and 345 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,400 unforgiveness. We cannot run away no matter how 346 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,360 far you travel. There are people here that have 347 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,880 traveled to the state because they wanted to leave a 348 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:35,480 situation. By the way, I'm grateful for 349 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:36,960 that. If you came here because you 350 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,080 were in a toxic situation, then then I'm I'm so grateful you're 351 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:43,400 able to get out of that. But how, why would you move away 352 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:45,320 from the problem while you're still carrying the problem? 353 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,080 It's time for us to find a level of resolution so we don't have 354 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,440 to carry this bitterness in our heart because we can either 355 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,480 pursue the problem out of anger and bitterness or we can run 356 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,440 away out of fear and pain. We can either aggressively try 357 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,360 and make something happen, responding out of anger, 358 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,760 responding out of frustration, or what we try and do is run 359 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,280 away because that's too touchy of a subject for me. 360 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,840 So the question is, when you think of even in your life, were 361 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:14,600 you even willing to have the conversation? 362 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:18,120 Were you even willing to talk to them in private and be able to 363 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:21,040 try and address this issue? And some of you are like, yeah. 364 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,160 And it went terrible. Thanks for asking. 365 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,040 I want to encourage you that Jesus knew it would not be easy. 366 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:33,440 He recognizes that that relationships can be messy and 367 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,800 He does not just leave us with Step 1 continuing in verse 16, 368 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,600 it says, but if he won't listen, take one or two others with you 369 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:45,040 so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses, every fact 370 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,120 may be established. So the second step is to share 371 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:54,440 the truth with community with the goal of clarity, sharing the 372 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,560 truth in the context of community, helping people, 373 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,240 having people with you to help with the goal of let us 374 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,880 understand why there's division to us. 375 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,520 Because if for some reason we have a conversation and there's 376 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,400 no solution, that means there's two perspectives that are not 377 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,200 being resolved. And that's why we have a 378 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:14,040 mediator. That's why we have counsel. 379 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:16,560 That's why you have a third party step into the room. 380 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,680 And what most of us do in this room is many times we don't even 381 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,600 have the conversation. And if we do have the 382 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,120 conversation and it doesn't go well, we. 383 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,720 Stop the process. But Jesus knew in many cases it 384 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,680 would not go well which is why he provided us a way in a step 385 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,800 to use. And I believe even if we do this 386 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,320 step we many times wait way too long. 387 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,240 Didn't you guys know this? Like think about in your life, 388 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,160 if there's someone that has sinned against you, the longer 389 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:50,640 you wait, the longer it festers, the more it builds up, the more 390 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,400 resentment, the more pain you start having conversations with 391 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,680 yourself that don't even exist. You internal processors, you all 392 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:58,640 know what I'm talking about. You've replayed that 393 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,680 conversation 18 times over again. 394 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,120 I'm probably underestimating. And so that that's not a healthy 395 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:08,280 way for us. And what happens, I would say is 396 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,200 we don't even do step one. And if we do, it's the most 397 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,280 unhealthy in our marriages. Think about it. 398 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:19,240 We do step one in our marriages specifically, over and over and 399 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,760 over and over and over and over again. 400 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,400 It's our favorite step. And so we'll tell our spouse 401 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,400 what's wrong with them. But then we wait way too long to 402 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,240 find a mediator to seek counsel. Counseling is a gift and a tool. 403 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:36,720 We should be able to use it. And if you're like, well, I 404 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,000 don't know if I can afford counseling. 405 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,240 Guess what? Even having a third party can be 406 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,680 such a great, such a great resource for us to be able to 407 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:47,960 reconcile with each other. What if we were willing to go to 408 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,400 Step 2 quicker and sooner that way instead of going to 409 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,040 counseling? Because we're not, we don't want 410 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:54,840 to get a divorce. We go to counseling because we 411 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,440 want a healthy marriage. Kingdom people in Kingdom 412 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,080 marriages aren't aren't marriages that are constantly 413 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:02,920 hanging on a thread. They thrive. 414 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,440 Now we go through hard seasons, we go through hard times. 415 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:06,880 I know what I know what I'm talking about. 416 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:08,480 Like I, I've experienced that myself. 417 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,760 But there should be a level of difference. 418 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,320 And that's because we follow God's process. 419 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,520 And I believe if we followed step one and step 290% of our 420 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,520 pains and 90% of our disagreements would be resolved 421 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,400 if we just follow Jesus process. And if you're still like, but 422 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,720 what if it doesn't go well, then Jesus got you covered. 423 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,360 All right, let's go to verse 17. Here's what he says. 424 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,320 And if he doesn't pay attention to them, tell the church. 425 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,400 And if he doesn't pay attention even to the church, let him be 426 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,480 like a Gentile and a tax collector to you. 427 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,200 So the third step is to share the truth with church authority 428 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,280 with the goal of humility. So we share the church, share 429 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,440 the truth with people in the church body. 430 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,760 That's why we have elders and pastors and people in leadership 431 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:03,920 to be able to have a godly perspective and help you guys 432 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:06,440 reconcile. And I love what Jesus says here. 433 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:08,800 I just want to back up a second. He talks about. 434 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,000 And if he doesn't pay attention even to the church, let him be 435 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:13,840 like a tax collector or a Gentile. 436 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,480 Jesus is saying if they won't even listen, then there's no 437 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,080 different than them and the rest of the world. 438 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,720 So one of the fundamental pieces of our walk with the Lord and 439 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,440 for us to be revealed as Kingdom people is to follow the process 440 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,840 of Jesus and to be humble, so much so that no matter the 441 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:34,720 conflict, we can somehow find some sort of resolution for it. 442 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,760 But if we're not willing no matter what, if we're not 443 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,640 willing at any point in time to be willing to reconcile with 444 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,600 someone, Jesus says, then there's no difference between 445 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,400 you and someone outside of the church. 446 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,000 Audio problems. But guess what's saying not 447 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,440 today. All right, We we ain't doing it. 448 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,000 Absolutely not. I've got to pick up a 449 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,520 microphone. We'll see what happens. 450 00:23:58,440 --> 00:23:59,600 I guess I'm picking up a microphone. 451 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,240 Praise the Lord, Thank God. Look at this perfectly placed 452 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,720 microphone. Just it's almost like it 453 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:05,600 happened. First service. 454 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:15,560 OK, we almost there. 123ABC ABCDEFG OK, LONOP. 455 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:20,640 All right, wonderful. My goodness, Lord, we love you. 456 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,440 We love you so much. Let's let's continue on here. 457 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,880 In verse 18 to 20, Jesus says, truly, I tell you, whatever you 458 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:30,760 bind on earth will have been bound in heaven. 459 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:33,400 Whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven. 460 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:35,880 He's talking about this forgiveness idea. 461 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,640 And again, truly, I tell you, if two or three agree about any 462 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:45,320 matter that you pray for it, it will be done for you by my 463 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,440 Father in heaven. For where two or three are 464 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:54,040 gathered together in my name, key phrase, I am there among us. 465 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:59,080 Now verse 20, I would argue is one of the most popular verses 466 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,920 that's used out of context. Now I get why people say it. 467 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:04,600 I get it. We're recognizing when we're 468 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,000 gathered together, the presence of Jesus is real. 469 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,040 Absolutely. But that's not Jesus was talking 470 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:11,560 about. So if you say that prayer, 471 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,560 there's a small chance I'm cringing a little bit. 472 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:15,920 OK, I love you. It's just out of context. 473 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,400 So what is Jesus talking about? Because there's a deeper 474 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,280 meeting. Jesus is saying, when you follow 475 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:25,800 my process, when you follow my plan, when you seek my will, 476 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,640 when you seek my word, when you seek my way, the presence of God 477 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:34,480 is in that moment and what we're trying to deal with our pains in 478 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,880 our own way, and we wonder why it does not work. 479 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,360 And here's why. God is saying, I'm willing to 480 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:46,560 enter in that place, but you have to follow my process to 481 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,720 receive my presence. You have to be willing to walk 482 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,360 in obedience to my Word. We want the Jesus solution, but 483 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:57,920 we don't want the Jesus process. And many of us can have a habit 484 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:02,800 of doing it our way for so long. God is saying to you right now, 485 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,120 isn't it time that you let go of old habits? 486 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,960 Isn't it time that you let go of old patterns that do not produce 487 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,600 life? You know, they don't produce 488 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,960 life. It's time to do something 489 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,600 different. And here's the next big question 490 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:20,880 that many of us might be asking is, but what if I can't forgive? 491 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,600 That's an honest question. What if I can't forgive? 492 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,480 And I'm not going to stand here on this platform and minimize 493 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,640 some of the things you have gone through. 494 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,880 Some of you have gone through some of the most gruesome 495 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,080 divorces, the most gruesome divorces. 496 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,480 Some of you have had a close friend stab them in the back. 497 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,960 Some of you have dealt with years and years of trauma. 498 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,920 Some of you deal with people from your workplace that makes 499 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,280 work life a living hell. Some of you were in a 500 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,680 relationship and that person just wrecked your heart. 501 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,800 Some of you have dealt with physical and what I say sexual 502 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:05,920 abuse from a family member disgusting and in your heart 503 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,920 you're saying you have no idea what I've been through and all I 504 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:15,440 can say is your right. But the Lord does and the Lord 505 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,320 says in Psalm 3418. He says I am near to the broken 506 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,240 hearted and I save the crushed and spirit. 507 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:27,280 The more broken you may feel in a moment, even more close is the 508 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:29,280 presence of God. If you would just open up your 509 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,800 heart. I remember when I was 1920 years 510 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,560 old, I had a really bad breakup and everything. 511 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,800 When you're 19 and 20 is the end of the world, You know what I'm 512 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,640 talking about, OK? We got to grow up sometimes and 513 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:41,800 it was like the end of the world. 514 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,120 Someone that I was close with, it ended terribly. 515 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,880 We had this big back and forth argument and the conclusion of 516 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,240 it is we're done, it's over. And at that time, I was riding a 517 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,760 motorcycle. And so I get on my motorcycle, 518 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,600 put my helmet on and I start riding faster than I should 519 00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,040 have. I start riding and I was in 520 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,720 Jacksonville. There's this bridge called the 521 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,320 Buckman bridge. It's like this multi mile 522 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,040 bridge. It takes a few minutes to get 523 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,080 over it. And here I am a motorcycle 524 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:09,840 helmet. And I'm just like bawling my 525 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,640 eyes out and I'm, I'm almost imagining the 8 year old in the 526 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,520 car like, wow, mom look, it's a guy in the motorcycle. 527 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,760 And I'm just like, Oh my goodness, my life is over. 528 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:20,320 Like that's just how I imagine it's happening. 529 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,280 And I'm on the I'm on this bridge where there's no cover 530 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,120 and it starts pouring. Literally I'm having the worst 531 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:31,280 day of my life and when it rains, it pours and it's, I'm 532 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,920 like, am I in a movie? Like what is even happening 533 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,480 right now? So frustrated. 534 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:37,160 So I finally get over the bridge. 535 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:40,760 I pull into the Panera. Just just overpriced food. 536 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:45,080 I, I pull into the Panera and I'm sitting there and not 537 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:46,440 getting food 'cause I couldn't afford it. 538 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,600 And I'm just at, I'm just in disarray. 539 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,040 I'm frustrated. And I remember I'm literally 540 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:56,680 looking down at the ground and I said, Lord, why am I even 541 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,080 serving you anymore? Honest prayer, Like, God, this 542 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,640 is so miserable. This is what's happening right 543 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,400 now. And a guy out of nowhere walks 544 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,640 up. He said, Sir, here's $10, lunch 545 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,680 is on me. Keep serving the Lord. 546 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,920 I'm in a moment of complete brokenness. 547 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:19,400 Yeah. And I'm, I'm looking at this 548 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,440 $10.00 bill. And before I can even look up, 549 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,200 he's gone. I don't know if it was an Angel, 550 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,000 I have no idea. But what I do know is this is 551 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,400 God is present in our pain. That's what I do know. 552 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:38,480 That's the truth. So then we get to this next 553 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,120 verse and and I love Peter because he literally represents 554 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:44,760 everyone in this room. So you hear the whole process. 555 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,160 Step one, Step 2, Step 3. And you're like, Dang, like 556 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:49,720 that's, that's kind of a lot of work. 557 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:51,560 I don't know about you, but that takes some time. 558 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,640 It takes some effort. And so here's Peter in verse 21. 559 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:59,240 It says, then Peter approached him and said, Lord, how many 560 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:04,760 times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? 561 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:10,120 As many as seven times. So what Peter's trying to say is 562 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,360 like there's got to be a cap, you know, like like there's got 563 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,800 to be some sort of like, I hear what you're saying, Jesus, I 564 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,320 understand forgiveness. I get this idea, but at some 565 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,880 point, like there's got to be a limit in my opinion. 566 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,280 Like I'm like 7's too much. You know, I'm like you get 2 two 567 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,080 times and you're out. All right, three strikes, 'cause 568 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:28,440 I like baseball. That's about all you get. 569 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:30,840 So Peter's being honest, he's like, he's like, let's figure 570 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:32,520 this out. This is how Jesus responds in 571 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,080 verse 22. I tell you, not many as 7 Jesus 572 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:42,080 replied, but 77 times. Now this is important because 573 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:46,840 Jesus's response changes literally everything that we 574 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,360 know about pain, about suffering, and about hurt. 575 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:55,680 Jesus says we should forgive as many times as it happens the 576 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,920 number of completion. And I don't know about you, but 577 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:03,400 I don't like Jesus's answer. Let's just be real honest with 578 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,200 the text. Like I I am not a fan of what 579 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,400 Jesus is talking about here. I'm just struggling with one 580 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,440 time. And so then you ask the second 581 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:14,120 question, well why? Why must we forgive? 582 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,160 And I believe Jesus gives us 2 answers. 583 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,960 He begins by telling us a story in verse 23 telling us a 584 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,200 parable. He says for this reason the 585 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,800 Kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to 586 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:28,200 settle accounts with his servants. 587 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,320 In this story the king is clearly God. 588 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:35,840 So is the king or God himself is settling debts owed to him. 589 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,400 Verse 24 he says. It says when he began to settle 590 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:46,080 accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. 591 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,080 Now this is an astronomical amount of money. 592 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,800 Talents. This many talents is worth 593 00:31:52,800 --> 00:32:00,040 between 10 and $12 billion in modern money, which I'm like, 594 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:04,920 brother, what did you buy? Like take me on a shopping 595 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:06,920 spree? My goodness, like 10 to $12 596 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,040 billion, that's an astronomical amount. 597 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,320 Like what did you do to even incur that much debt? 598 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,920 Insane amount of money verse 25 it says since he did not have 599 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:21,840 the money to pay back, his master commanded that he, his 600 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:27,000 wife, his children and everything that he had sold to 601 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,560 pay the debt. Back in the Roman days it was 602 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:34,120 commonplace for people to go into slavery to pay off the 603 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:36,800 debts. Now, let's be honest is is that 604 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,680 even happening would not justify the debt that he incurred. 605 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,920 But at least for this master, it would be enough for justice to 606 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,840 be done. So wouldn't absolve all the 607 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,760 debt, but at least there'd be some sort of justice for all the 608 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:55,120 debt that he incurred. And then in verse 26, it says at 609 00:32:55,120 --> 00:33:00,720 this the servant fell face down before him and said, be patient 610 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,200 with me and I will pay you everything. 611 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,960 No, you ain't you ain't going to pay him everything like you're 612 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:08,680 too far gone. And this is what happened. 613 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:14,680 The master of that servant had compassion, released him and 614 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,160 forgave him the loan, which I want to say this, if you run a 615 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,680 bank in here and you want to loan me $10 billion, which you 616 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,880 will later forgive, find me out in the lobby. 617 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:25,920 All right? I just want to throw that 618 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:27,720 request out there. If someone has it on their heart 619 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,840 I want to say that. But think how crazy though that 620 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:35,640 response is, all of this debt and he has compassion and 621 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:39,200 sympathy and says you're free, you're free to go. 622 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:44,720 So what does this man do? Verse 28 that servant went out 623 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:49,520 and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 624 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,560 denarii. So mind you this is about 3 625 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:58,960 months wages maybe a few $1000 at most and he grabbed him and 626 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:03,280 started choking him and said pay what you owe. 627 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,520 This is the immediate response of a man who was just forgiven 628 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:11,159 10 to $12 billion and he goes out to one of his friends and 629 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:16,199 servants and chokes him and say you owe me this money. 630 00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:19,880 What a response. At this his fellow servant fell 631 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,719 down and began begging him. Sounds familiar from earlier Be 632 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,440 patient with me and I will pay you back. 633 00:34:28,159 --> 00:34:33,760 But he was not willing. Instead he went and threw him 634 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,639 into prison until he could pay what was owed. 635 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,960 And when the other servants saw what had taken place, they were 636 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:45,239 deeply distressed and went and reported to their master 637 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,760 everything that had happened. And then after he had summoned 638 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,960 him, his master said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you 639 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,000 all that debt because you begged me. 640 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:01,360 Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant as 641 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,720 I had mercy on you? And because he was angry, 642 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:09,200 rightfully angry, his master handed him over to the jailers 643 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:14,360 to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 644 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:16,920 And I don't want you to miss this last verse. 645 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:23,640 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless everyone of you 646 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:27,720 forgives his brother or sister from his heart. 647 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,040 We sit here and we listen to the story and we ask the question. 648 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,560 I don't understand why the servant would respond that way 649 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,640 after he had just been forgiven. How could like how could he lack 650 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:45,840 so much compassion after the king forgave a debt he could not 651 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,400 pay? And God is saying to us is did 652 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,800 you forget the debt that was paid for you? 653 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,640 Did you forget the debt that was forgiven? 654 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,920 Because I sent my son and your entire life you lived in 655 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,280 wickedness and as an enemy of God, and you wanted nothing to 656 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,880 do with me. And yet in your sins and in your 657 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:08,480 trespasses, I sent him to provide a way so you could be 658 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:11,680 free and forgiven. And it's so similar to a 659 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,200 situation in First Corinthians chapter 6, the apostle Paul, 660 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,520 he's addressing the same issue of people in the church that 661 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:21,200 have pretty much spat on the grace of God. 662 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:23,320 And in verse 9, I'm going to start, here's what he says. 663 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,440 He says, don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit 664 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:29,800 God's Kingdom? Do not be deceived. 665 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,640 No sexually immoral people, no idolaters, adulterers, males who 666 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,040 have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, 667 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,800 verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit the 668 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,280 Kingdom of God. And the apostle Paul is creating 669 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:48,040 a category of those that are separate from God's Kingdom. 670 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:51,280 And it's easy to look at that. And you're saying, well, I guess 671 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,160 the apostle Paul is mad. This is Holy Scripture and we 672 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,720 have to read to the end. What is the point that he's 673 00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:01,120 trying to make in verse 11? And some of you used to be like 674 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:07,960 this as a believer in Jesus. This is called BC, before 675 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:12,200 Christ, before you're connected, before you were saved, before 676 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:15,880 you were redeemed, before you were forgiven, and you are 677 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:21,720 defined by your sin. That's what some of you were 678 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:25,000 like. And I had a conversation a few 679 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:27,400 months ago. I was talking to Rihanna. 680 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:29,600 She's our kids director. She's amazing. 681 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:33,200 And I was just asking. We had like a really personal 682 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:35,680 conversation. I was like, man, Rihanna, where 683 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:39,240 were you five years ago? Just think about it, like where 684 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:42,080 were you five years ago? And she looked at me and she 685 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:48,400 said, where was IA year ago? Like how much God can do? 686 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:52,440 God can do more in one year than you can do 100 years on your 687 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,840 own. That's the God that we serve. 688 00:37:56,040 --> 00:38:00,680 That's what we serve. And here's how it ends. 689 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,000 The end of verse 11. Such were some like you, but you 690 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:10,600 were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were 691 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:14,880 justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the 692 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,160 Spirit of our God. That's who it used to be. 693 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,240 But you've been saved, you've been justified, you've been 694 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:24,840 redeemed, you've been forgiven. So why must we forgive? 695 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:29,120 Because we have been forgiven of our greatest sins with His great 696 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,600 love. That's the fact of the Gospel. 697 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:33,400 We've been forgiven that kind of way. 698 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,480 And some of you might be saying, but, but pastor, I don't really 699 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,720 feel that right now. I still feel the brokenness. 700 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,600 I still feel the hurt. I still feel the same. 701 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,160 I still feel the heartless and the hopelessness. 702 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,920 And I want to say there's one more reason that Jesus gives us 703 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:53,000 in Matthew chapter 5, verse 22 to 24. 704 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:57,520 Here's what Jesus says, but I tell you, everyone who is angry 705 00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:00,080 with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment. 706 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:04,160 Whoever insults his brother or sister will be subject to court. 707 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:08,160 Whoever says you fool will be subject to Hellfire. 708 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:11,840 Jesus is saying the anger and the frustration and the division 709 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:16,440 will receive judgment not just on earth, but when you face me 710 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,680 in heaven. And here's what he says in verse 711 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:20,280 23. These powerful words. 712 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:24,640 So if you are offering your gift on the altar in the synagogue 713 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:29,920 and there you remember that your brother or sister has something 714 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:33,920 against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. 715 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:38,480 First go and be reconciled with your brother and sister and then 716 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,800 come and offer your gift. So if you're coming to this 717 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:44,680 church and you're coming to God and you're, you're going to this 718 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:49,080 place to be restored, to be redeemed, to be forgiven and you 719 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:53,440 want freedom, Jesus says go. He says, go back home. 720 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,040 He says, go make that phone call. 721 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,480 He says, go send that text. He says, go have that 722 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:00,360 conversation. Go say what needs to be said. 723 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,200 Why? Because for us, we can never be 724 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:07,720 free unless we forgive. Jesus believed this so much. 725 00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:13,080 He said, I would rather you stop worshipping for just a moment to 726 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,320 go and reconcile. That's how much the Lord Jesus 727 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:19,800 believes in this. And so years past, I left my 728 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:21,360 home. I was 15 years old. 729 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:25,480 I kept my promise, never came back, made a mess of my life, 24 730 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,360 years old and I said, Jesus, for the rest of my life I'm done 731 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,680 trying to follow myself. I'm going to follow you, Lord, 732 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:34,360 whatever you tell me to do, I'm going to do it, whatever it is. 733 00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:39,200 One month after that prayer to the Lord, my mom gives me a 734 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,160 phone call. And mind you, I have, I have 735 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:45,400 spoken to her maybe three to four times in 10 years, had not 736 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:48,480 seen or spoken to my stepdad since I had left. 737 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:52,760 And she calls me on the phone and she shares with me that her, 738 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:56,400 her husband, my stepfather had Parkinson's disease. 739 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:59,680 He was on blood thinners. He was struggling to walk. 740 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:02,040 And if you're on blood thinners and you fall, it could be 741 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:03,520 catastrophic. You could, you could die. 742 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:06,760 And she's lacking time off. She doesn't know how to care for 743 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:09,600 him. And on that phone call, God says 744 00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:14,400 go home. I hung up the phone and I said 745 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:19,320 absolutely not. I said, Jesus, I'll do anything 746 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,760 but that. And here I am praying before the 747 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:27,440 Lord and the Lord has asked me this simple question. 748 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:29,880 Did you really mean what you said? 749 00:41:31,720 --> 00:41:36,200 Go home. So I called my mom a couple 750 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:39,560 weeks later. It took me some time and we're 751 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:43,680 on the phone and I said mom I'm coming back home. 752 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:46,680 At that time I was living in North Carolina. 753 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,000 I was dating someone who serious relationship ended up becoming 754 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:53,600 my wife. Had a good job living at home 755 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:59,200 like life was great. Quit my job, left my girlfriend 756 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:04,840 and went home. And I remember driving up with 757 00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:07,920 all my stuff in my car and seeing him for the first time. 758 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:09,280 And I don't even know how I would feel. 759 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,560 There's a lot of feelings. But I served him. 760 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:25,720 I served and loved the man that I hated, not just like I hated 761 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:28,920 this man. And I served and I loved him to 762 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:33,280 the glory of God. And three months later, we're at 763 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:36,120 the dinner table just by ourselves. 764 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,080 And I finally had the courage to ask the question. 765 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:43,360 Why didn't need any other context. 766 00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:47,480 He knew what I was asking. Why did you treat me like this? 767 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:50,200 And he was a man of very few words. 768 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:55,960 He paused for a moment, looked at me, and he said, because I 769 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:59,240 was angry. And for some of you're like, 770 00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:02,720 that wasn't a good answer. But for me it finally made sense 771 00:43:02,720 --> 00:43:07,520 because when he said I was angry, in that moment I saw a 772 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:11,800 reflection of him in me. It was like a mirror. 773 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:16,760 The last 10 years of my life, I was driven by anger and 774 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,000 bitterness. And in that moment, I just had 775 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:23,960 this sense of compassion and empathy because I saw myself as 776 00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:29,000 God saw me as Jesus saw me. When I was angry and I was 777 00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:32,640 bitter and I was frustrated and I was living in sin. 778 00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:36,480 The Lord had compassion and sympathy on me. 779 00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:39,200 And how could I not give him that same compassion? 780 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:41,400 How could I not give him that same sympathy? 781 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:43,400 How could I not give him that same mercy? 782 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:46,960 How could I not forgive him? I had been forgiven. 783 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:51,600 And here's what's so powerful about it. 784 00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:53,840 That moment changed my relationship with him because I 785 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:56,600 did not view him as an enemy. I view him. 786 00:43:56,640 --> 00:44:00,920 I viewed him as God. Seed him in love and compassion. 787 00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:06,040 Three months after that moment, he was at my wedding. 788 00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,880 Five years later, and I want to put up this last picture here. 789 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:19,880 Five years later, I had just been ordained as a new pastor 790 00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:25,200 and I was doing my first funeral and it was his. 791 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:33,520 Before God gave me a beautiful wife, before God gave me a 792 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:36,800 greater purpose, before God changed my life, the first thing 793 00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:40,840 He had me do was deal with the anger and unforgiveness in my 794 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:43,680 heart. But God is reminding us that we 795 00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:46,360 have to follow His process to receive His presence. 796 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,960 We have to be willing to have the conversation, to seek help 797 00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:52,160 and get a mediator. We have to ask for church 798 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:53,880 support. If we can't solve the problem, 799 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:57,480 we need to be able to forgive and reconcile. 800 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:00,440 And I want to give you before you walk out of this space, 801 00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:05,680 three things and I believe three steps to walk and freedom person 802 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:11,920 a pain in a process when you think in your life, what is that 803 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:15,400 person's name? What is their name of the person 804 00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:18,040 that hurt you? Second thing, how did they hurt 805 00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:20,640 you? What is the what is the pain 806 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:22,360 that you have in your heart because of something that 807 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:25,000 happened? And third thing, what is the 808 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,080 process? What is your first step? 809 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:29,800 And for some of you, you might say, I don't know if I can do 810 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,600 it. And your first step is just to 811 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:35,400 pray, just to ask for the Lord. Because here's what I'll tell 812 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:38,560 you. The type of forgiveness that God 813 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:40,960 has called us to is supernatural. 814 00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:44,280 It's supernatural. And God isn't going to give us a 815 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:46,280 command that He's not going to empower us to do. 816 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:48,160 It's by the power of the Holy Spirit. 817 00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:51,080 And I want to make it clear, I'm not the hero in the story. 818 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:55,080 I'm not this holy man. I'm a kid that was broken and 819 00:45:55,080 --> 00:45:58,600 destitute and the Lord changed my life from the inside out. 820 00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,480 And he said, I want you to go. I didn't even want to go. 821 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:05,760 So my story is a story of Jesus redeeming me and me trying to 822 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:08,760 see that redemption in others. It was because of him. 823 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,880 Jesus is the hero of the story. He is the one that changes 824 00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:19,840 everything. He does all of that and so if 825 00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,640 you go back, if you have the conversation and reconciliation 826 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:26,520 is not possible, forgiveness always is because you can never 827 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:30,000 be free unless you forgive and you can't truly receive the 828 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,080 forgiveness of God without even being able to forgive others. 829 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:37,080 That's a product of being Kingdom people and above all 830 00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:41,080 else, and I'll end here is an order for you to even walk in 831 00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:42,720 that power or walk in that authority. 832 00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:44,800 It starts with a relationship with the Lord. 833 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:49,720 You can't do it apart from Him, and so if you've never been 834 00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:51,880 forgiven yourself, that's the first step. 835 00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:56,920 The fact is, Jesus Christ live the perfect life, died on a 836 00:46:56,920 --> 00:47:01,640 cross for your sins, was bloodied and bruised and beaten, 837 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:05,120 died and three days later rose again. 838 00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:09,880 And when He did that, He created access for you to be forgiven 839 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:15,600 for your sins and your evils and your brokenness to be castaway 840 00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:17,760 as far as the East's from the West. 841 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:20,680 In other words, when God looks at you for those that have a 842 00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:24,280 relationship with Jesus, he does not even see your past sins. 843 00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:27,200 He doesn't even see the pains. He doesn't even see the 844 00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,800 brokenness. He sees you as a son and as a 845 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:33,320 daughter. And my hope and prayer is that 846 00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:36,040 some of you, before you leave, you would make a profession of 847 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:39,200 faith this morning because there's no better way than 848 00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:41,640 Jesus. There's no greater hope than 849 00:47:41,720 --> 00:47:44,800 Jesus. There's no greater savour than 850 00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:46,520 Jesus. Let's pray. 851 00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:52,880 Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your presence, your 852 00:47:52,880 --> 00:48:00,440 compassion, your empathy, your love, your care, your kindness. 853 00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:04,920 And what I pray right now for the hearts that are served in 854 00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:06,920 this room. I pray God first for those that 855 00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:10,680 you are revealing something that is time to let go of people in 856 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:13,160 this church, people in their family, people back at home 857 00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:15,680 where wherever that is. God, I ask God that you would 858 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,480 give them the strength, give them the courage to walk in 859 00:48:19,480 --> 00:48:21,880 freedom. Give them the the power to walk 860 00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:25,240 and follow the process. I pray for those hearts in this 861 00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:29,960 room and I pray God for the one. If it's just one, Jesus, you 862 00:48:29,960 --> 00:48:32,800 said you left the 99 to find the one, just one who wants to make 863 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:36,120 a profession of faith. I pray God that by your Holy 864 00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:38,440 Spirit you would bring them to that place. 865 00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:42,600 And so we're going to pray a prayer together as a body. 866 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:49,600 Let's say, Heavenly Father, I recognize that I am a Sinner and 867 00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:55,680 I need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died on the 868 00:48:55,680 --> 00:49:04,200 cross for my sins and I confess that Jesus rose from the grave, 869 00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:10,320 is my Lord and is my Savior in Jesus name. 870 00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:14,160 And if you're praying that for the first time, I want to 871 00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:16,280 encourage you to make that personal just for a moment. 872 00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:18,960 Just be mindful of a holy moment. 873 00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:21,160 Just say, Lord, I don't even know what this means fully Lord, 874 00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:24,680 but I know I trust in you. I believe in your sacrifice. 875 00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:28,760 I have faith. And if that's you in this space, 876 00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:30,920 on the count of three, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand in 877 00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:33,000 boldness as a sign of profession. 878 00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:35,560 We have something to give you. We have something to bless you 879 00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:37,480 with. So if that's you, you're making 880 00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:40,080 a profession of faith today. On the count of you, raise your 881 00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:46,600 hand 123 anyone in here? Today is the day of salvation. 882 00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:52,320 Don't let a day go by. Thank you, Jesus. 883 00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:55,520 You can. Once you can receive a gift, you 884 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,200 can put your hand down. Thank you, Jesus. 885 00:49:57,840 --> 00:49:59,600 Thank you, Jesus for your forgiveness. 886 00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:07,840 Thank you, Lord, and I think for those that just made a 887 00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:10,920 profession of faith and as the body of Christ, I want us to 888 00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:12,800 stand. And before you came in, you were 889 00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:15,920 given communion elements. And I think it's appropriate 890 00:50:17,240 --> 00:50:21,280 before ending a service on forgiveness that we're reminded 891 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:23,480 of the reason that we have forgiveness, which is the 892 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:26,440 sacrifice of Jesus. If you don't have a communion 893 00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:28,400 element, feel free to raise your hand. 894 00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:30,760 We have ushers that can bring some extras around. 895 00:50:31,960 --> 00:51:20,520 Keep those hands raised. And this is what all throughout 896 00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:22,480 church history the church has called a sacrament. 897 00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:26,320 It's a it's a sacred thing by which we walk in obedience to 898 00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:29,840 the Lord. And when Jesus picked up the 899 00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:34,760 bread, he gave thanks and he says, this is my body which is 900 00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:39,240 broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. 901 00:51:39,680 --> 00:52:14,320 You can take worship this last song.