night so we're doing kind of our cleanup work
there and then next Sunday we're going to jump
back into Matthew and that'll kind of lead us
into Easter. But it was interesting as I was
studying this passage preparing the sermon for
today is it's talking about clothing ourselves
in a certain type of character and what was interesting
to me about that is I'm not the type of person
who cares about clothes at all. mean at all at
all I love a pair of worn -out ripped blue jeans
to the point where my wife tries to secretly
throw them away so she's not a fan of that but
those are my favorite things to wear and my favorite
type of shirt is the five -pack at Walmart where
it's a plain shirt with a t -shirt and you get
like five different colors I mean for ten bucks
you can't beat that price so that's that's how
I how much I care about clothes just really not
at all but I did think it was interesting as
I was thinking about this passage how you can
pretty much always tell what I'm getting ready
to do based on what I'm wearing. My clothes kind
of give it away. So if you ever see me, for instance,
in a black suit with a tie, someone's getting
married or buried. Those are the only two options.
That's the only time I wear that get up. If you
see me in gym shorts, which you will probably
never see me in gym shorts, I'm either going
to bed or I'm going to the gym. It's really only
one of the two. And also since many of you know
where I live and you have passed by at this fortunate
time I have been known to rock a pair of cutoff
jean shorts with some boots Outside doing yard
work if you see me in a pair of cutoff jean shorts
wearing boots You know I'm about to do some serious
gardening or some yard work and if I'm decked
out and all orange Then you know I'm about to
watch God's favorite football team play football
But it's interesting rightly what I'm wearing
lets people know what I'm getting ready to do.
And it's interesting when you look at this passage
the Bible is going to say that Christians need
to be dressed a certain way as well. Not dressed
with fancy suits or dresses or ties or things
like that. But instead the whole point that I
think the Bible is making here is that as God's
people we must clothe ourselves with the character
of Christ. As God's people, we must clothe ourselves
with the character of Christ. If you look back
and think about this passage, even in verses
9 and 10, the Bible says that we're to put off
the old self and we're to put on the new self
that's made in the image of Jesus. In other words,
when you come to faith in Jesus, there are certain
things that no longer belong in your life. You
have to put off your old way of life, your old
habits, your old way of living, your old way
of talking, your old sins, and you have to put
on the new person that is made in the image of
Christ. And when you put on this new self, it
should let the entire world know what you're
getting ready to do. When you clothe yourself
in the character of Christ, it should let the
entire world know that you're about to live your
life for Jesus and Jesus alone. That you're going
to live your life for the glory of God and it
should be evident in your life. And the obvious
question is, well, how do we do this? Or you
can think about it, what does this look like?
What does it look like to put on the character
of Christ? What does it look like to actually
clothe ourselves to put on the character of Christ
and let the world know that we are going to live
our lives for Jesus? I want you to see what the
Bible says here as it starts in verse 12. It
says, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy
and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness,
humility, meekness, and patience bearing with
one another. And if one has a complaint against
another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has
forgiven you, so also you must forgive. Now,
I think you can tell that this whole first section,
although it mentions a number of things that
we should have in our lives as characteristics,
this whole first section is on forgiveness. And
it's important for us to take time to think about
this topic and this subject of forgiveness because
we don't really have true forgiveness that much
in the church today. For many people, forgiveness
boils down to nothing but words, right? Someone
offends us. Someone says something about us.
Someone does something to us. And what do we
say? We go, oh, well, you know, that hurt. I
didn't like it. I wish they wouldn't have done
that. But it's whatever. I forgive them. And
we kind of just dismiss it, right? We put it
to the side. We dismiss it. We overlook it. And
we try just not to pay attention. And our whole
basis for forgiveness and the way that we enact
forgiveness, it comes down to merely tolerating
people. If I see them, I'm not going to try to
talk to them. I'm going to try to avoid them.
If they say something to me, I'll be friendly,
I'll be cordial, but I'm not actually going to
forgive them from my heart. It boils down to
words. I'm going to say, it is whatever. It is
not a big deal. I forgive them. I want you to
notice something interesting about these verses
here. Did you notice that the Bible never says
anything here about saying something? It doesn't
say you should speak something, you shouldn't
just pronounce forgiveness. What does it say?
It says, forgive others. Don't just say you forgive
them, actually forgive them. What you have to
understand is that biblical forgiveness does
not come from the mouth, it comes from the heart.
And when you think about biblical forgiveness,
and you think about the way that God has forgiven
us, biblical forgiveness is always most clearly
seen in action. that is taken. I mean, if you
look at the Bible and you see how God forgave
us, God didn't just look at us and our sin and
go, yeah, you know what? It's whatever. I don't
really like the things they're doing. I don't
like the things they're saying. They're living
in a way that is really displeasing to me, but
it's no big deal. It's whatever. I forgive them.
That's not what happened. The Bible says that
when God saw us in the midst of our sin, And
in the midst of our disobedience, in the midst
of our hatred, in the midst of our hardness of
heart, the Bible says He sent His only Son to
die on the cross for us so that by His shed blood
we would have forgiveness of our sins. You see
in Ephesians 1 -7 the Bible says in Him we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of our trespasses according to the riches of
His grace. So what does that mean? It means that
when God saw me at the height of my disobedience,
He acted on my behalf. He didn't just say I forgive
them. He acted and He sent His Son to die on
the cross for my sins so that I would have forgiveness
in Him. And you know, the clearest way that we
can tell that God has truly forgiven us is by
the way He treats us now. Because God does not
merely tolerate us and God does not dismiss us.
He does not give us a cold shoulder, but instead
God embraces us and he moves closer to us and
he treats us as his own children. In fact, God
does not hold our sins over our head. You look
at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 17. It says, I will
remember their sins and their lawless deeds no
more. Is anyone thankful for that verse this
morning? I will remember their sins and their
lawless deeds no more." Now we should say that
obviously God does not truly forget these things
because He is God and He knows all things. It
is impossible for God to forget something because
the Bible says that God knows all things. God
knows all things actual. God knows all things
possible. That is what it means for God to be
omniscient. It means that He is all -knowing.
So He doesn't actually forget these things, but
in His mercy, He chooses not to bring them to
His remembrance. He chooses to put them to the
side and not hold them over our heads anymore,
which again is another way that we like to forgive
people, right? We say, oh, I forgive them. And
then what do we do? We keep all of their former
sins right there close at hand. And we say, oh,
if they mess up, If they say something, I'm going
to go right back over here and I'm going to tell
them all the things they've done. Do you remember
how I forgave you of this? Yeah? You remember
this big thing? And all we're doing is holding
it over their head. And that's not the way that
the Bible says that God forgave us. I think a
clear indication, if you want to know if you've
truly forgiven someone, a couple questions you
could ask yourself. If you claim that you've
forgiven someone, are you still treating them
as though they're guilty? the sins they've committed
against you. Because if you're still treating
them like they're guilty and you're still holding
them those sins over their head, it means that
you haven't actually forgiven them. Another good
question to think about, are you still bad -mouthing
them and taking every opportunity you have to
talk about them behind their back? You say, Pastor,
you're not me. I would never do that. I don't
go looking for opportunities to talk about. I
didn't say do you go looking for opportunities.
I said do you take every opportunity? If that
person's name comes up in conversation, you go,
you know what? This isn't gossip, but let me
just tell you what's going on over here and let
me tell you what they're doing. And you're taking
every opportunity you have to talk about that
person behind their back. If you're doing that,
does that really mean that you have forgiven
someone? Are you still thinking about them negatively
and constantly thinking about how they've wronged
you, what they've said, what they've done? Are
you still keeping them at arm's length and not
embracing them? Are you just tolerating them?
And I know the common response this morning,
because I get it all the time. People say to
me, well, pastor, you don't know what they did
to me. You don't know what they said about me.
You don't know how they have betrayed me, and
you don't know how badly it hurts. You don't
know what they've done. And I just want you to
hear me say this. I'm not denying any of that.
I'm not denying that they hurt you. I'm not denying
that they betrayed you, and I'm not denying that
it hurt. But I want you to notice here that the
Bible doesn't say that we're only to forgive
people when it is easy and costs us nothing.
The Bible never says forgiveness is supposed
to be easy. The Bible never says just forgive
people as long as it's convenient, as long as
it's comfortable, as long as it doesn't cost
you anything, as long as it is easy. What does
the Bible say here, folks? It says, forgive others
as God forgave you in Christ. You say, well,
why is that a big deal? Let me tell you why it's
a big deal. It's because here's how I know how
God forgave me. When God forgave me of my sins,
I know for a fact that I did not deserve it.
Did you deserve it? I can answer it for you.
I know for a fact you didn't deserve it either.
I know when God forgave me, I was not seeking
Him out. I wasn't apologizing. I wasn't feeling
guilty about what I had done. When I look at
God's forgiveness of me, I see that it was purely
unconditional and undeserved. And the Bible says
that is how you are to forgive others. When you
think about how people have hurt you and betrayed
you, And you're thinking about withholding forgiveness
from them. I want you to just remember that everything
that we have ever done to God is infinitely worse
than anything anyone has ever done to us. And
yet God still forgave us. And He moved closer
to us. You might say, well does that mean I should
forgive someone if they, yes. But what if they,
yes. Even if they, yes. The answer is always
yes, not because that person deserves it, but
because God has forgiven you in Christ of far
worse than they have ever done to you. You see,
here's the point that it's making here. Forgiveness
is never based on whether or not a person deserves
it, but on what God has done for us. Forgiveness
is never based on whether or not a person deserves
it, but on what God has done for us. You see,
forgiveness is easy as long as it's a concept.
Forgiveness is easy as long as it's nothing more
than an idea. But when you believe that God forgave
you and so you were called to forgive others,
and you're actually forced to practice that,
that's when you find out if you actually believe
what you claim to believe. There's a really famous
story of Cory Tim Boone, and many of you probably
know that name. She and her family hid Jews in
their home during the Holocaust. And when they
were discovered, Cory and her sister were sent
to a concentration camp at Ravensbrook, where
her sister eventually died due to harsh treatment
and malnourishment. And years after Corrie was
released, she was given a talk in a basement
on the topic of forgiveness. And she told the
people there, when we confess our sins, God cast
them into the deepest ocean, gone forever, and
so we must therefore forgive those who have wronged
us. And at the end of her talk, she was approached
by a man whom she immediately recognized. He
was a guard at Ravensbrook where she was held
as a prisoner with her sister. And she immediately
started panicking and she thought, there's no
way he recognizes me. I was just one of thousands
of prisoners there. There's no way he recognizes
me. The man comes up to her and he says, that
was a fine message. How good it is to know that
as you say, all of our sins are at the bottom
of the sea. You mentioned Ravensbrook in your
talk. I was a guard there. But since that time
I have become a Christian and I know that God
has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there.
But he said, I would like to hear it from your
lips as well. Will you forgive me? And here's
where the rubber met the road, right? She had
just told others, God has forgiven us, so we
must forgive others. And then immediately after
that God said, all right, here's an opportunity.
Let's see if you actually believe that. And she
said, as she looked at this man, all she could
think about was her sister and the slow agonizing
death that she experienced there under that man's
care. And she said that no part of her wanted
to forgive him. And then she had this thought.
She thought to herself, if God has cast your
sins and this man's sins into the depths of the
sea, then who are you to bring them to the surface
again? And as she thought about how God had forgiven
her, she was freed to forgive someone who had
wronged her so badly. You see, it's real easy
to talk about forgiveness. It's a lot harder
to actually practice forgiveness. And I'm saying
this from someone who's had this experience personally.
I've been hurt and betrayed by people in the
church. I know you wouldn't think that would
happen in the church. Turns out it does. I've
been hurt and betrayed by people in the church
so many times, I have lost count at this point.
And I'm telling you from personal experience,
it hurts. It is disappointing. Sometimes it is
just downright crushing when you think the people
closest to you could do something like this to
you. And every time that happens to you, church,
you have a choice. You can either dismiss that
person entirely and say, well, they're not even
really a Christian. If they were, they wouldn't
be acting this way. So clearly they're not even
a Christian. I don't want anything to do with
them anymore. I don't want to talk to them. I
don't want to see them. I don't want to interact
with them. You could do that. But does that display
God's forgiveness of us at all? I mean, wouldn't
it be more honoring to recognize that we live
in a broken world with broken people, and this
is going to be hard for you to hear, even Christians
are still going to be plagued by sin. and not
be perfect. Wouldn't it be more honoring to say,
Lord, this person has hurt me deeply. Help me
bear with them through my pain and frustration.
I mean, wouldn't it be more honoring to say,
Lord, this person really isn't acting in a Christ
-like manner right now. Help me to respond in
a way that is honoring to Christ. Help me navigate
this situation in a way that brings glory to
your name. Wouldn't it be more honoring to say,
Lord, I'm really hurt by what's happening and
my character and my actions are being misrepresented.
Help me trust in you for the vindication of my
character. Help me to bear with this person in
the midst of their sin as you have with me in
the midst of mine. Wouldn't that be what it looks
like to actually clothe yourself in the character
of Christ? Wouldn't that be... an honoring way
to show what God has done for us in Christ. And
when we do this, it's not just about forgiveness,
but when we put on the character of Christ and
we truly are clothed in His character, then let
me tell you something. Something special happens
in the church. When you clothe yourselves in
the character of Christ, you're going to see
that unity prevails in the church. I want you
to notice verses 14 and 15. It says, and above
all these, put on what, church? love which binds
everything together in perfect harmony and let
the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which
you were called in one body and be thankful.
Now I've said this to you many times before but
I'm going to say it to you again because it's
still true. Nothing will tear a church apart
quicker and nothing will kill a church quicker
than disunity and division. Amen. Now again,
you might say, well pastor, isn't it doctrinal
issues? Don't doctrinal issues divide and kill
churches more quickly than disunity? Yeah, sometimes
that's the case, but I think when you look at
churches that split all throughout the years,
what you're going to find is that it's often
disunity and division that tore that church apart.
And the reason that's the case is because it's
an easy target. You see, pretty much every church
is on guard against doctrinal issues. No pastor
wants to be labeled a false teacher or a heretic.
And most churches don't want to be labeled as
progressive or liberal. Most churches. And so
very few of these churches and these pastors,
they don't have their guard up against disunity.
They have their guard up against doctrinal issues.
And they say, we're going to be staunch on doctrine,
as you should. But the problem is they stop looking
at the importance of unity. And so they let their
guard down against it. Unity is not something
we create in the church, by the way. The Bible
says in Ephesians chapter 4, there's a command
from God that says we are called to maintain
the unity of the church. We do not create that.
God creates that in Christ, by His Spirit, binding
us together, and then you as a Christian are
called to maintain the unity of the church. It
means that you are to strive for unity. You are
to work for unity. It is your responsibility
as a Christian. You see, here's the thing that
you need to understand. The devil doesn't need
to kill your church by getting people to talk
about doctrinal issues, as long as he can just
get them to talk about the person sitting in
the pew behind them. That'll tear a church apart
quicker, will it not? You say, oh, it's doctrinal
issues, we wanna be, yeah, but if you're just
talking about the person sitting behind you,
And then the person behind you is talking about
the person behind them, and then all these little
conversations are going on, the church is going
to split, and it's going to divide. And I think
that what you're going to find is that when this
happens, there is often a lack of love where
there's division. Where there's division, where
there's disunity, there's a lack of love. And
our problem with love is the same problem we
have with forgiveness. We want love to be easy,
just like we want forgiveness to be easy. I say,
yeah, I'll forgive someone if they come groveling
towards me. If they come to me groveling, they
say, I'm so sorry. I know I've wronged you and
they really are feeling it. And I'm like, okay,
yeah, you did wrong me. All right, this feels
good. Then I'll forgive you because it's easy.
We want the same thing with love, do we not?
I'll love people as long as it's easy to love
them. I'll love people who agree with me on everything.
I love people who will just think the way I do.
I'll love people if they act rationally. I'll
love people if we just get along and there's
harmony and everything's nice and it's all sunshine
and rainbows. Then I'll love people. But I want
you to notice something here. The Bible never
says love is supposed to be easy. If love was
easy, listen to me church, we wouldn't need a
command telling us to love people. We would just
do it. And so I'm going to tell you something
that you need to hear that you already know.
The church is messy. Amen? Christians are messy.
It's been said before that the church is not
a museum of saints. It is a hospital for the
sick. And that is true. There is no perfect church.
And there is no perfect Christian, and listen
to me say this, as your pastor, the sooner you
realize that and embrace that, the better off
you're going to be for it. It's actually good
for you to hear that your dream church and your
dream community does not exist. And the reason
it's good for you to hear that is because God
doesn't want you living in some dream world.
He wants you living in the real world with real
broken, dysfunctional, hard to love people. I
love the way the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer
said it on this subject. He said, every wish
dream that is injected into the Christian community
is a hindrance to genuine community and must
be banished if genuine community is to survive.
He who loves his dream of a community more than
the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer
of the latter. Amen and amen. You are not called
to love your dream church. You are not called
to love your dream community. You were called
to love the people that God has placed you with.
It'd be easy, of course, to love everybody who
thought like us, agreed with us, acted rationally.
But if it were easy everybody would be doing
it Jesus said in Matthew 5 44 But I say to you
love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you and he goes on to say in verse 46 For if
you love those who love you What reward do you
have do not even the tax collectors do the same
thing? What's Jesus saying there? Of course,
it's easy to love people who love you Of course,
it's easy to love people when it doesn't cost
you anything, when it's convenient. It doesn't
take a Christian to do that. Anybody can do that.
But it does take a Christian to love people who
are hard to love, who don't think like you, who
don't act like you, and who don't agree with
you on every single point. So here's what I want
you to understand, that the point the Bible's
making here is we are called to love people as
they are, not as we desire them to be. It'd be
easier for you to say amen if this wasn't so
difficult for us. But it's true, is it not? We
are called to love people as they are, not as
we desire them to be. You might say, why do we
love people this way? Because church, this is
how God loved us. I've said it to you before,
God does not love some future version of you.
God did not look at you and say, yeah, you know
what, he's pretty rough right now, but I see
some potential in him. I see what he's gonna
be one day. I know he's gonna get it all together
and all those rough edges are gonna be smoothed
out and one day he's gonna be lovable and he's
gonna have his life together and so I'm gonna
love him now on the basis of what he one day
will be. That's not what happened. God didn't
look at you and love some future version of you.
He looked at you in the midst of your brokenness
and your disobedience and your sin, and He said,
I love them right now, right where they're at.
Now, let me say this. God loves us too much to
leave us right there. He loves us enough to make
us more and more into the image of Christ. But
the point remains the same, that God did not
love some future version of you. He loved the
messed up you, the broken you, the you that did
not have it all together. And church, listen
to me. If this is how God has loved us, this
is how we are called to love others. Not love
some future version. I'll love them when they
get it together. I'll love them when they start
acting right. I'll love them when they're a little
bit more rational. I'll love them when they treat
me a little nicer. You're not called to love
some future version of them. You are called to
love them right where they are, as they are.
You see, it's not agreement. And it's not seeing
eye to eye on every little issue that binds the
church together. It is not thinking or acting
rationally that binds the church together. It
is love that binds the church together. Not superficial
love, not lip service, not just tolerating people,
but real, sacrificial, hard, Christian love that
binds the church together in perfect harmony.
If you want to be a unified and united church,
then above all else, church, above the compassionate
hearts, above the meekness, above the humility,
above everything, you have to put on love. The
same love that God showed us in Christ. And one
of the best ways you can do this is by letting
the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Notice
what he says in verse 15. And let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you
were called in one body. And be thankful. Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching
and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness
in your hearts. And whatever you do in word or
deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father. through Him.
He says to let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts it means to let the peace of Christ be
your guiding and governing principle in life.
Because whatever your guiding or governing principle
is is going to determine what you say and do.
And we can show this to be the case fairly easily.
For instance, if my governing or guiding principle
in life is being right, then I'm going to do
everything I can to win every argument I can
and prove to people that I can be right in every
single situation. If my governing or guiding
principle in life is getting my way, then I'm
going to do everything I can to make sure that
I get my way no matter what it costs other people.
If my governing or guiding principle in life
is being liked, then I'm gonna do everything
I can to make sure that I please everyone and
that everyone likes me and everyone thinks well
of me all the time, which you know is impossible,
right? We get that? There are gonna be people
who don't like you. You understand this, yes?
I don't see enough nods, okay? You need to understand
this. You cannot please everyone. If you think
that you can and you want to see that you can't,
I encourage you to come shadow me for a week
and I will prove to you that you can't. That
offer is open to anyone who wants it, by the
way. But if my governing and guiding principle
in life is the peace of Christ, then I'm going
to do everything I can to make the presence of
Jesus known, the person of Jesus loved, the name
of Jesus magnified, and the glory of Jesus treasured.
If the peace of Christ is truly my governing
and guiding principle, then every single time
there is a dispute or a conflict, I'm going to
let the peace of Jesus determine the words I
speak and the actions I take. What words or actions
are most going to display the character of Christ
in this situation? What words or actions are
most going to align with Jesus' will and desire?
These are the things that you need to be asking
yourself because here's the point that these
verses are making unless we are guided by peace
We will never be guided to peace Unless we are
guided by peace. We will never be guided to peace.
I Think every single church in the world Wants
to have peace. Yes We desire peace. We want to
be at peace with one another. Let me tell you
something church. No one just stumbles into peace.
Peace doesn't just happen. You're never just
gonna be going about your daily life and end
up at peace. You have to have peace as your guiding
principle, your governing principle. It has got
to be your compass that directs your actions
and the words and what you do. Because we're
very bad at ending up where we want to go if
we're left to ourselves and if we don't have
some sort of guiding principle. And it's actually
been proven. Some researchers did a very fun
study where they took some participants and they
put them in a desert and then they put them in
an open field and they put a destination about
a hundred yards across from them and they said,
here's what we want you to do. We want you to
walk just to the other side. Go to that destination
a hundred yards away. and just walk in a straight
line to that destination. Everybody was able
to do it. It's not that hard, right? But then
they put blindfolds on them. And they said, all
right, same exact thing. All we want you to do
is walk 100 yards in a straight line to that
destination. We've already done it. You know
how easy it is? Go for it. And what they found
is pretty much every single participant ended
up walking in circles. Even though they thought
they were walking in a straight line, they ended
up walking in circles around and around because
it turns out that when you don't have a reference
point, it's very hard to get to where you want
to go. And in the same way, church, without the
peace of Christ as our guide, we're going to
drift off course. If we rely solely on our own
feelings, Our circumstances, or even our own
reasoning, we may think that we're headed in
the right direction, but inevitably we're going
to get off track. Are we not? We'll never find
true and lasting peace by following our own instincts.
It is only when we let the peace of Christ act
as our compass, our guiding and governing principle,
that we will be guided towards true biblical
peace. You have to have that peace as a reference
point. And you have to say, I'm going to do everything
I can under the power of the Holy Spirit to get
to where we want to go. I'm going to let every
single word I say, every action I take be with
that peace as my end goal. I'm going to keep
it in mind at all times. Because I want to just
encourage you and let you know that Jesus wants
His church to have peace. Amen? He wants his
church to be unified. He wants us to be united.
The devil will do his part to tear us apart.
We don't need to make his job any easier, church.
Jesus wants his church to live in this way. I
think every person in here this morning needs
to ask themselves, am I going to continue to
wear the old clothes that belong to the old self
or am I going to clothe myself in the character
of Christ? Am I going to forgive others who have
hurt me and wronged me? Because I realize that
everything I've ever done to God is infinitely
worse than anything anyone could ever do to me.
Am I going to love people who are hard to love
because I realize that God loved me at my absolute
worst. So who am I not to love people who don't
quite measure up to where I'd like them to be
at this point? Am I going to strive for unity
and let the peace of Christ determine the words
and the actions that I take? I want everybody
in here this morning, ask God's people to commit
to clothe ourselves in the character of Christ
in such a way that we let the entire world know
that when they see us and they see the way that
we live, we are determining we are living for
Jesus and Jesus alone. Amen? Let's pray. Our
Father, this is what we desire, and we know that
it is not possible in and of ourselves. Lord,
we want so desperately to be a people who are
pleasing in your sight. We want to be a people
who forgive others the way that you have forgiven
us. We want to be a people who love others the
way that you have loved us, and we want to be
a church, Lord, that is unified and united and
strives to have that peace. But God, we can't
do this on our own. Lord, if we're left to ourselves,
we will never forgive people unless it is very
convenient and easy. And we will not love people
who are hard to love. We will only love those
who are easy to love. We'll never arrive at true
biblical peace. We might have agreement and we
might have an absence of conflict for a little
bit, Lord, but we will never have that true peace
that we desire. And so, Father, what we are asking
in this moment is that you would help us, that
you would give us the type of hearts that desire
these things that you desire for us. God, I pray
for everybody in here this morning. I pray for
everyone who's watching online and everyone who
will listen to this later, God, that you would
help us strive To be the type of people who clothe
ourselves in the character of Christ Lord I pray
if there's anyone in our lives right now that
we're struggling to forgive That you would remind
us of how much you have forgiven us in Christ
And that you would free us up To forgive them
God and not hold on to that burden anymore not
not be under the weight of that anymore But to
be freed to offer them the same forgiveness you
gave us Lord if there are any people in our lives
this morning that we are struggling to love because
frankly they're hard to love and they have irritated
us and they have wronged us and they are still
acting in a way that we don't like I pray God
that you would remind us of how much you have
loved us in Christ and how we didn't deserve
it and we didn't measure up and that once again
you would free us to be able to live in a way
that reflects the character of Christ And Lord,
more than anything this morning, I pray that
You would unite us in peace, that we would be
a church that is guided by the peace of Christ,
that does everything that we do with that peace
in mind, and that we will be directed by it,
so that when the world sees us, they will see
what You have done for us in Christ. Help us
to live in that way God. We pray in Jesus name.
Amen Christian and Mark and I will be down front
if you'd like to come pray with us at this time