WEBVTT 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:06.679 Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.759 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.519 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:15.080 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.239 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.339 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:22.760 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.760 supporting the ministry of Village. Your generosity 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:28.339 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:31.510 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:35.250 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:39.090 .org slash give or by heading to our website 00:00:39.090 --> 00:00:43.130 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.350 --> 00:00:54.009 Now let's dive into this week's message. Amen. 00:00:54.090 --> 00:00:57.369 Well, for the sake of time and for the sake of, 00:00:57.390 --> 00:01:00.729 well, you guys' lunch plans, we're going to fly. 00:01:01.030 --> 00:01:03.070 You guys ready to fly? Let's go. All right, here 00:01:03.070 --> 00:01:06.430 we go. Have you ever noticed how quickly some 00:01:06.430 --> 00:01:10.109 small relational things can turn into big things 00:01:10.109 --> 00:01:13.430 in your life? It usually starts with something 00:01:13.430 --> 00:01:16.510 fairly minor, like a comment someone makes that 00:01:16.510 --> 00:01:19.980 comes off a little sharp. Or maybe it's a text 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:22.280 message that seemed cold in tone. You're trying 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:24.079 to read it and you're like, did they really mean 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:26.140 it this way or did they say it this way, right? 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:29.019 Or maybe you get a look. You guys ever gotten 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:30.640 a look from someone and you're like, I'm pretty 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:34.260 sure they hate my guts, right? I can't be for 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:37.719 sure, but I'm pretty sure, right? And then suddenly 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:39.420 there's this tension. What's wrong? What's going 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:41.560 on between us? Like it was just a look, right? 00:01:41.620 --> 00:01:44.319 But I'm sure it's something, right? Or maybe 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:46.140 it's in the morning at home and someone's trying 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:48.060 to get out the door and kids are moving slow 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:50.120 and one of you is stressed and the other one 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:52.340 is frustrated, right? And before you know it, 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:54.519 there's friction in the relationship over something. 00:01:55.579 --> 00:01:57.920 And then 10 minutes later, it doesn't even matter. 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:02.560 And if we're honest, most relational damage doesn't 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:06.780 come from one massive blowout moment, but it 00:02:06.780 --> 00:02:09.960 comes from unaddressed moments stacking up over 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:13.569 time. Little irritations or unspoken offenses, 00:02:13.849 --> 00:02:18.030 they never get dealt with, and it's death by 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:22.210 a thousand paper cuts. And over time, relationship 00:02:22.210 --> 00:02:25.310 erodes away, and as we talked about last week, 00:02:25.310 --> 00:02:28.310 over time, our gospel witness is compromised. 00:02:29.909 --> 00:02:32.469 This is exactly why the New Testament gives us 00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:37.120 so many one another commands. God didn't form 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.759 his people to live in isolation or avoidance 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.300 or to have quiet resentment in their heart. He 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:45.620 formed the church to be a place where grace flows 00:02:45.620 --> 00:02:49.680 freely between people. Where we live the gospel 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:53.319 out in confession and forgiveness when we sin 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:56.939 against each other. And where we remind one another 00:02:56.939 --> 00:02:59.139 of the forgiveness we already have in Christ 00:02:59.139 --> 00:03:03.509 Jesus when we sin against God. And so today, 00:03:03.590 --> 00:03:06.569 the title of today's sermon is The Grace Cycle. 00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:12.530 The Grace Cycle. Confess to one another and forgive 00:03:12.530 --> 00:03:16.110 one another. And it says four points. It's clothe, 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:18.590 confess, forgive, and pray. Those are going to 00:03:18.590 --> 00:03:22.009 be the four points today. Confess to one another, 00:03:22.129 --> 00:03:24.009 forgive one another. And the big idea that I 00:03:24.009 --> 00:03:27.210 want us all to see today is this. Because Christ 00:03:27.210 --> 00:03:31.449 has graciously forgiven us, we must humbly confess 00:03:31.449 --> 00:03:35.250 our sins to one another and extend the same grace 00:03:35.250 --> 00:03:38.189 -filled forgiveness so that we can experience 00:03:38.189 --> 00:03:43.509 real healing together. We're going to walk through 00:03:43.509 --> 00:03:45.969 those four movements today in two scriptures. 00:03:46.050 --> 00:03:48.270 We'll be back and forth between Colossians chapter 00:03:48.270 --> 00:03:51.050 3 and James chapter 5. So if you want to have 00:03:51.050 --> 00:03:53.150 your Bibles open, you can put your fingers in 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:55.759 two different places there. Colossians 3 and 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:59.599 James chapter 5. So let's jump in with Colossians 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:01.599 chapter 3. If you're taking notes, the first 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:07.340 point, clothe yourself. Paul writes in Colossians 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:12.560 chapter 3, verse 12. Therefore, as God's chosen 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:17.060 ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:21.459 kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 00:04:23.370 --> 00:04:25.850 Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and dearly 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:28.829 loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, 00:04:29.189 --> 00:04:31.569 gentleness, and patience. Paul uses the language 00:04:31.569 --> 00:04:36.629 of put on. It's clothing language. One version 00:04:36.629 --> 00:04:40.750 says clothe yourself. It's like something you 00:04:40.750 --> 00:04:44.850 intentionally choose to wear, which means it 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:49.170 doesn't happen automatically, does it? It doesn't 00:04:49.170 --> 00:04:51.750 happen automatically. You don't wake up accidentally 00:04:51.750 --> 00:04:56.970 compassionate. Or you don't drift aimlessly into 00:04:56.970 --> 00:05:02.449 patience or humility, do you? You must put it 00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:08.310 on. Think about how your mornings work. Nobody 00:05:08.310 --> 00:05:10.449 walks out of the house without deciding first 00:05:10.449 --> 00:05:12.230 what they're going to wear, right? Hopefully, 00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:16.399 right? And even if you don't care what you wear, 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:20.060 there's still a decision involved, right? Some 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:22.420 of you guys lay out your clothes the night before, 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:26.920 folded, laid out. You spend an hour or so before 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:29.420 you go to bed figuring out the coordination between 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:35.879 the hat, the belt, the... No? Nope. Yeah, yeah. 00:05:38.629 --> 00:05:41.730 Some of you grab whatever is clean, right? You 00:05:41.730 --> 00:05:44.009 hope something is clean. Some of you don't grab 00:05:44.009 --> 00:05:49.709 whatever is clean, right? Yep. And some of you, 00:05:49.730 --> 00:05:51.350 whenever you walk out the door, that is between 00:05:51.350 --> 00:05:55.410 you and the Lord because we don't know what's 00:05:55.410 --> 00:06:02.509 going on. But nobody just appears dressed, do 00:06:02.509 --> 00:06:06.250 they? And Paul is saying, in the same way you 00:06:06.250 --> 00:06:09.480 choose your clothes, You are called to choose 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:16.100 your posture toward other people. And what happens 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:18.920 if you don't? Well, if you don't choose your 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:21.019 posture towards other people, then you walk into 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:25.439 your day spiritually and emotionally undressed. 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:30.500 And then the first moment of friction, when it 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:34.000 hits, what happens? You're immediately reactive, 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:39.670 short, irritated. Defensive. You guys ever felt 00:06:39.670 --> 00:06:44.790 that? And what Paul is showing us is the way 00:06:44.790 --> 00:06:47.889 we relate to one another starts long before the 00:06:47.889 --> 00:06:50.529 conflict ever comes. It starts with what we've 00:06:50.529 --> 00:06:56.029 put on. And notice how he grounds it. He starts 00:06:56.029 --> 00:07:00.589 it with, as God's chosen ones, holy and dearly 00:07:00.589 --> 00:07:04.180 loved. And that's identity language. We've been 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:07.000 in a whole season where our theme this year is 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:10.139 identity. That's identity language. This is who 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:12.779 you are now in Christ. That's what Paul's saying. 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:17.259 This is who you are now in Christ, so now live 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:21.860 it out. Well, how? Well, what have you put on? 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:26.439 What did you put on today? Did you put on compassion, 00:07:26.579 --> 00:07:32.540 kindness, humility, gentleness, patience? Because 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:35.800 these are the exact qualities that make confession 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:40.980 and forgiveness even possible. So I'll say it 00:07:40.980 --> 00:07:45.240 this way. A harsh heart will never confess and 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:50.040 a proud heart will never forgive. You must prepare 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:55.500 your heart. I drive home and one of the features 00:07:55.500 --> 00:07:58.360 of where I live is I get an hour's drive from 00:07:58.360 --> 00:07:59.879 the time I leave the church till I get home. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:02.779 I call it a feature. Some of you guys would not 00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:06.360 call it a feature, I'm sure. But I call it a 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:08.860 feature. I get an hour's drive home, which means 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:11.879 I get to turn on some tunes. I get to listen 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:14.779 to a podcast. I get to listen to an audio book. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.620 That's two hours every time I come down the hill. 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:21.639 It's awesome. But I was starting to notice when 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:23.500 we first moved out there about five years ago 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:27.000 that I would get in the car, I would listen to 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:30.370 some music. Maybe I'd turn on a podcast of modern 00:08:30.370 --> 00:08:32.789 events, like current events, news podcast or 00:08:32.789 --> 00:08:35.889 something, or a political podcast, right? And 00:08:35.889 --> 00:08:37.909 I'd be driving along, and I'd start off like, 00:08:38.009 --> 00:08:39.649 hey, this sounds exciting. This is interesting. 00:08:39.809 --> 00:08:42.049 I want to hear it. And by the end of it, my heart 00:08:42.049 --> 00:08:44.470 would be all in turmoil and twisted up, and I'd 00:08:44.470 --> 00:08:46.549 be like, why are things the way they are, right? 00:08:47.409 --> 00:08:52.950 Just running people off the road, you know? It's 00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:54.690 narrow roads up there, too, so you can do that 00:08:54.690 --> 00:08:59.500 pretty easy. And I would get home and my heart 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:02.259 would be all in turmoil. I'd be thinking about 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:04.179 all these things. I'd walk in and guess who was 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:08.440 there waiting for me? My wife and my kids. Hey, 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:10.120 it's so good to have you home. And I'm like, 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:14.440 right? And I'm not even mad at them. I'm in a 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:16.600 whole different space altogether. They have no 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:18.600 idea what just happened in the last hour and 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:20.639 where my mind was at and what I was trying to 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:23.059 mull over or how I was trying to figure out. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:25.769 How do people even think this way, right? And 00:09:25.769 --> 00:09:27.789 then I walk into the house and they're there 00:09:27.789 --> 00:09:29.929 and they're like excited to see me. I'm excited 00:09:29.929 --> 00:09:33.029 to see them in one sense, but I'm also all tore 00:09:33.029 --> 00:09:37.649 up inside and not ready for that moment. And 00:09:37.649 --> 00:09:39.929 so a couple of years into it, yes, it took me 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:41.990 a couple of years. It usually takes me a couple 00:09:41.990 --> 00:09:45.509 of years for anything. But a couple of years 00:09:45.509 --> 00:09:48.610 into it, I realized I needed to start making 00:09:48.610 --> 00:09:51.710 preparations before I got home. I had to prepare 00:09:51.710 --> 00:09:55.809 myself because there are people there who I can 00:09:55.809 --> 00:09:58.370 be present with, who I can see how they're doing. 00:09:58.450 --> 00:10:01.110 I can be considerate and love them in a way that 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:04.230 I can't do with my current arrangement. And so 00:10:04.230 --> 00:10:06.970 on the road there, as I get off Black Oak Mine 00:10:06.970 --> 00:10:09.490 and I make a left -hand turn onto 193 on the 00:10:09.490 --> 00:10:11.909 left -hand side, there's a big red sign that 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:14.830 says Christmas Tree Farm. And the moment I see 00:10:14.830 --> 00:10:18.970 that sign, I turn off everything. If I'm heading 00:10:18.970 --> 00:10:21.730 home, I turn it all off because I need the next 00:10:21.730 --> 00:10:26.820 10, 15 minutes. to begin to put on all the things 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:29.419 necessary to walk into that house to the people 00:10:29.419 --> 00:10:32.240 that I'm responsible to care for and love and 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.960 lay my life down for. And I had to learn that. 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:38.100 I had to learn to prepare my heart for those 00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:42.220 situations. For me, that's what it looked like 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:45.039 to put these things on. And if we want to live 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:48.720 in the grace cycle, we want to experience healing, 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:51.360 which is the ultimate of the grace cycle, then 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:55.889 we have to begin By clothing ourselves. We began 00:10:55.889 --> 00:10:58.750 by clothing ourselves with compassion and kindness 00:10:58.750 --> 00:11:01.570 and humility and gentleness. And it starts before 00:11:01.570 --> 00:11:06.629 the moment we need it. What would it look like 00:11:06.629 --> 00:11:08.970 for you in the morning or before you enter into 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:12.029 a circumstance to say, God, help me put on compassion. 00:11:13.769 --> 00:11:16.710 Jesus, help me walk in humility. Holy Spirit, 00:11:16.929 --> 00:11:19.409 give me patience with the people I'm about to 00:11:19.409 --> 00:11:24.330 see. It's my prayer every day, all the time. 00:11:26.850 --> 00:11:29.870 And then at the end of the day, to reflect back 00:11:29.870 --> 00:11:33.370 and say, man, where did I live it out? Where 00:11:33.370 --> 00:11:37.269 did I come up short? For family discipleship, 00:11:37.269 --> 00:11:39.389 maybe it looks something like having a simple 00:11:39.389 --> 00:11:42.450 check -in at dinner at the end of the day. Hey, 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:46.850 family, where did we see kindness today? And 00:11:46.850 --> 00:11:51.440 where did we need more patience? How can we prepare 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:55.820 to put that on before we leave the house, not 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:59.539 after we need it? In church, you might find that 00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:01.759 there's someone who's hard for you to deal with, 00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:07.559 not theoretical, an actual person. What would 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:09.940 it look like to intentionally put compassion 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.230 on toward them this week? Not just here, not 00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:15.309 just when we get together and we collide once 00:12:15.309 --> 00:12:18.169 a week, but what would it mean to put compassion 00:12:18.169 --> 00:12:21.389 on and begin to reach out to them, to encourage 00:12:21.389 --> 00:12:24.950 them, to pray for them? You know, what's really 00:12:24.950 --> 00:12:31.289 hard to coexist is resentment and prayer. You 00:12:31.289 --> 00:12:35.250 usually give up one for the other. So you lean 00:12:35.250 --> 00:12:37.549 into prayer and you begin to see resentment fall. 00:12:37.830 --> 00:12:40.889 You lean into resentment. You're probably not 00:12:40.889 --> 00:12:45.070 praying much. But we want to put that on, compassion, 00:12:45.429 --> 00:12:50.409 kindness, gentleness toward one another. And 00:12:50.409 --> 00:12:52.450 the reality is the grace cycle doesn't just show 00:12:52.450 --> 00:12:57.750 up in conflict unless you put it on before. And 00:12:57.750 --> 00:13:01.110 now, once this foundation is in place, let's 00:13:01.110 --> 00:13:04.750 take that grace cycle to number two. And this 00:13:04.750 --> 00:13:07.789 one is a little bit uncomfortable, but it's absolutely 00:13:07.789 --> 00:13:10.710 necessary for us to experience the healing that 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:13.419 comes from this. Number two, confess your sins 00:13:13.419 --> 00:13:16.600 to one another. Confess to one another. James 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:19.440 chapter five, verse 16 says, therefore confess 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:23.639 your sins to one another and pray for one another. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:27.059 And I think you and I, if we're honest for a 00:13:27.059 --> 00:13:29.559 second, this one is one of those commands where 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:34.419 we all agree with it in theory, right? That sounds 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:37.139 like a great idea for you to do when you're wrong, 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:41.220 right? I love that. But in practice, most of 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.220 us don't mind confessing in general, right? We're 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:48.179 like, of course, I'm a sinner like everyone else, 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:53.320 right? We all are. But we don't like confessing 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:55.899 specifically, do we? And certainly not to another 00:13:55.899 --> 00:14:01.659 person. Joby Martin, pastor over at 1122 in Florida, 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:04.460 he says, you ever notice that people don't sin 00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:09.639 anymore? We just struggle. I'm struggling with 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:12.919 this. I'm struggling with that. The struggle 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:15.820 allows for the inner tug of war to take place 00:14:15.820 --> 00:14:18.580 that plays out in our actions. Our actions are 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:20.600 also, if someone watches you, you're like, wow, 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:22.899 you're really struggling, aren't you? Yeah, it's 00:14:22.899 --> 00:14:25.340 struggle. It's in the name, right? And then Joby 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:27.679 Martin, he ends more or less, my wife kind of 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.240 paraphrases for me, but he more or less says, 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:36.820 stop struggling, start confessing. Stop struggling. 00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:40.909 Start confessing. Well, what was he getting at? 00:14:40.950 --> 00:14:44.409 Because the word confess in James literally means 00:14:44.409 --> 00:14:49.029 to openly acknowledge, to say the same thing. 00:14:49.110 --> 00:14:51.769 In the context of James, it means to agree with 00:14:51.769 --> 00:14:55.690 God about what is true. That's what confess means. 00:14:57.529 --> 00:15:00.250 Not to soften it, not to spin it or manage how 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:03.210 it sounds. You know, we're also really good at 00:15:03.210 --> 00:15:06.350 giving our sins pet names, aren't we? Right? 00:15:07.370 --> 00:15:12.330 I'm just hangry. Take away the hang. You're just 00:15:12.330 --> 00:15:18.710 angry. We give them little pet sounds, little 00:15:18.710 --> 00:15:23.230 cute pet names, but to confess is to say, this 00:15:23.230 --> 00:15:30.009 is what I did. God says it's sin, and I come 00:15:30.009 --> 00:15:33.990 into agreement with his assessment. This is what 00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:39.139 I did. God says it's sin. I come into agreement 00:15:39.139 --> 00:15:44.840 with his assessment. This is confession. And 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:48.720 the Bible says to do that with one another. This 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.779 is what I've done. I know God says it's not right. 00:15:52.419 --> 00:15:56.440 It violates his law, his commands. And so I'm 00:15:56.440 --> 00:16:00.960 coming into agreement with what God says. To 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:04.740 one another. And the reality is the Christian 00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:07.460 life was never meant to be a private, internal 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:09.840 -only experience. A lot of us think, man, I'll 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:14.039 just do that here. Just me and JC in my heart. 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:18.179 Little confessions all the time, right? We good, 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:22.980 but just chaos and relationship all around you, 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:30.480 right? You ever notice how sin feels smaller 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.860 in your head? And then once you say it out loud, 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:37.059 you're like, ooh, that is bad, isn't it? Like 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:39.820 I was minimizing it, I was justifying it, and 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:41.799 then when I had to say it with my own lips, it 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.659 was like, ooh, that doesn't sound too good. Yeah, 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.799 I don't know if I like that. Because confession 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:52.019 turns the light on in a dark room. Confession 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:54.399 turns the light on in a dark room. Nothing new 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.559 was added to the room, it was always there, but 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:00.240 everything became clear, right? We have a large, 00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:04.390 A German shepherd dog named Cody. And Cody likes 00:17:04.390 --> 00:17:06.910 to sleep in our room at night. And we turn off 00:17:06.910 --> 00:17:08.670 the lights and it's pitch black. We live up in 00:17:08.670 --> 00:17:11.289 the country. And so if the moon's not out, it's 00:17:11.289 --> 00:17:13.789 pitch black. If the moon's out, it's blazing 00:17:13.789 --> 00:17:16.529 like the sun through our window. But most nights, 00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:19.589 there's no moon. It's pitch black. And if anyone 00:17:19.589 --> 00:17:21.109 needs to get up to use the restroom, you know 00:17:21.109 --> 00:17:23.230 what we have to do? We get out of bed and we 00:17:23.230 --> 00:17:28.119 go like this. And then you kick the dog. Oh, 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.000 sorry, Cody. And then you step really big to 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.500 try to get over him and hope you don't fall, 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:36.700 right? Well, what happens if I turn the light 00:17:36.700 --> 00:17:38.980 on, right? He's still in the same spot, right? 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:41.920 But it becomes clear to me. It becomes obvious 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:45.980 to me. Confession pulls sin out of hiding and 00:17:45.980 --> 00:17:49.140 brings it into the light of grace. Confession 00:17:49.140 --> 00:17:52.039 is, we might think of it as a, oh my gosh, no. 00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:55.579 And that's especially true if you're in a culture 00:17:55.579 --> 00:17:59.640 or you're in a church environment where judgment 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:03.220 always follows confession. If I confess, it's 00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:05.019 always met with judgment. It's always met with 00:18:05.019 --> 00:18:07.099 the side eye. It's always met with the whispers 00:18:07.099 --> 00:18:09.240 in the gospel. I can understand why confession 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:11.039 might be a bad thing, but biblically, confession 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.940 is not a bad thing. Like, I love, we were talking 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:16.640 about repentance last night, and confession is 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.980 a part of this repentance. And Anthony was talking 00:18:18.980 --> 00:18:21.940 about how, man, repentance is not a bad thing. 00:18:22.619 --> 00:18:26.880 It's a grace. It's amazing. We view it poorly, 00:18:27.099 --> 00:18:28.819 right? Because we think, oh my gosh, it's going 00:18:28.819 --> 00:18:32.539 to expose us. But it's so wonderful. He's the 00:18:32.539 --> 00:18:34.539 example of the prodigal, right? The prodigal 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:37.480 who's away from the father and in the pig slop, 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:40.500 right? And it says he came to his senses. That's 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:43.200 what repentance is and confession as a part of 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:44.960 that. It's just coming to your senses and going, 00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:49.420 why did I ever choose this crap? Can you say 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:53.109 that? You can say that? Okay, good. Why did I 00:18:53.109 --> 00:18:58.269 ever choose this in my life? What was I thinking? 00:18:58.430 --> 00:19:02.829 This isn't life. This isn't living, slopping 00:19:02.829 --> 00:19:06.029 for pigs here in the pig pen. You came to your 00:19:06.029 --> 00:19:09.809 senses. That's repentance. That's confession 00:19:09.809 --> 00:19:12.170 through the act of confession that's turning 00:19:12.170 --> 00:19:15.269 away and saying, I now agree, man. It's way better 00:19:15.269 --> 00:19:18.150 to be with the Father. It's way better to be 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:23.839 in his house. I agree with him. Confession requires 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.599 humility. It requires coming to that place and 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:30.940 going, I'm in the pig pen right now. And there 00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:34.559 is something more. And I agree with it. God says 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.539 it's so. Because everything in us wants to oppose 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:41.119 it. We all want to justify, yeah, I said that, 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:45.420 but it was because of you. Or I wouldn't have 00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:48.079 reacted that way if they didn't dot, dot, dot. 00:19:49.019 --> 00:19:53.490 Or we're all sinners, right, after all. And that's 00:19:53.490 --> 00:19:55.390 our pride, protecting itself. That's all that 00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:58.390 is. That's our pride, protecting itself. But 00:19:58.390 --> 00:20:03.609 humility says, no qualifiers, no defense, no 00:20:03.609 --> 00:20:07.410 spin. I need to own this. And I need to agree 00:20:07.410 --> 00:20:12.609 with God about this thing. This matters more 00:20:12.609 --> 00:20:14.990 than we think because without confession, relationships 00:20:14.990 --> 00:20:22.549 never heal. They just develop scar tissue. things 00:20:22.549 --> 00:20:25.549 get buried under a thick, protective layer of 00:20:25.549 --> 00:20:30.130 defense, defensiveness. And that creates distance, 00:20:30.369 --> 00:20:35.089 relationally. But there is a promise attached 00:20:35.089 --> 00:20:39.009 with this passage in James that we confess our 00:20:39.009 --> 00:20:42.170 sins one to another. We call them what they are 00:20:42.170 --> 00:20:44.690 and agree with God about them. We confess them 00:20:44.690 --> 00:20:48.450 and we pray for one another. Why? So that we 00:20:48.450 --> 00:20:55.329 may be healed. relational, restorative healing 00:20:55.329 --> 00:20:59.670 is on the other side of confession. If we avoid 00:20:59.670 --> 00:21:02.109 confession, we may also be avoiding the very 00:21:02.109 --> 00:21:06.170 thing God wants to use to restore us. And so 00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:08.849 here's a question for you. Where are you hiding 00:21:08.849 --> 00:21:15.990 right now? Where are you hiding right now? What's 00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:19.250 underneath the surface in the dark that you need 00:21:19.250 --> 00:21:22.539 to flip the light on? Call it what it is and 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:28.819 begin to agree with God about it. What would 00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:31.420 it look like today to bring that into the light 00:21:31.420 --> 00:21:36.420 with the person you've sinned against to confess 00:21:36.420 --> 00:21:41.140 your sin? Because grace will flow where honesty 00:21:41.140 --> 00:21:46.420 lives. Grace is there. Where honesty and humility 00:21:46.420 --> 00:21:49.380 live. And once confession happens, well, then 00:21:49.380 --> 00:21:53.980 we move to this next step. And back to Colossians 00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:56.960 chapter three. Number three, forgive one another. 00:21:59.900 --> 00:22:02.500 Colossians 3 .13 says, bearing with one another 00:22:02.500 --> 00:22:06.119 and forgiving one another, if anyone has a grievance 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:09.299 against another, just as the Lord has forgiven 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:16.819 you, you are also to forgive. This verse is packed 00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:19.759 with a lot, but we'll start with the opening 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:24.240 phrase, bearing with one another. Bearing with 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.599 one another simply means learning to live with 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:30.859 each other's differences. Learning to live with 00:22:30.859 --> 00:22:33.799 each other's differences. You see, friends, not 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:38.339 everything is a sin. Not everything is a transgression 00:22:38.339 --> 00:22:41.460 or offense. Some things are just people being 00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:46.009 different. Different personalities, different 00:22:46.009 --> 00:22:49.009 preferences, different ways of seeing the world. 00:22:49.210 --> 00:22:51.609 Some of you guys are structured people, right? 00:22:52.490 --> 00:22:56.150 Everything has to be in a line, all the ducks 00:22:56.150 --> 00:22:59.470 in a row, every I dotted and T crossed, right? 00:23:00.809 --> 00:23:02.710 You're structured people. And some of you guys 00:23:02.710 --> 00:23:15.869 are spontaneous slash irresponsible. I can only 00:23:15.869 --> 00:23:21.210 say that because that's me. And there is prayer 00:23:21.210 --> 00:23:23.369 time coming in a little bit, so we'll deal with 00:23:23.369 --> 00:23:31.670 that in a minute. Right? Some of you guys are 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:34.789 direct. You want to have a conversation, it just 00:23:34.789 --> 00:23:42.160 comes out unfiltered. Right? And some of you 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:44.039 are a little passive aggressive. You like to 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:48.019 leave little breadcrumbs and hope. Aggressive, 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:50.440 aggressive. You like to leave a little breadcrumb 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:52.279 for someone to track down and figure this thing 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:56.400 out, right? All on your own. Some of you are 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:00.200 early. Some of you are on your way when you're 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:02.099 still getting dressed in your living room. Not 00:24:02.099 --> 00:24:04.359 your living room. Your bedroom. Don't get dressed 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:07.880 in your living room. That's weird. Hey, it's 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:10.619 your living room. Do whatever you want. Get dressed. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:22.440 That's not the point, though, right? See, if 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:27.420 we're not careful, we can end up just trying 00:24:27.420 --> 00:24:33.019 to move on. If we're not careful, we can end 00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:35.660 up treating differences like they're offenses. 00:24:38.509 --> 00:24:41.529 But Paul says, some things you don't need to 00:24:41.529 --> 00:24:44.509 confront, you don't need to confess, you don't 00:24:44.509 --> 00:24:47.089 need to forgive, you just need to bear with each 00:24:47.089 --> 00:24:52.210 other. The author and pastor Paul David Tripp, 00:24:52.269 --> 00:24:54.609 he talks about this. He says, not every relational 00:24:54.609 --> 00:24:58.529 tension requires forgiveness. Just a side note, 00:24:58.589 --> 00:25:00.109 just because it doesn't require forgiveness or 00:25:00.109 --> 00:25:02.650 repentance doesn't mean that an apology wouldn't 00:25:02.650 --> 00:25:07.150 be in order. But not every tension requires forgiveness. 00:25:08.059 --> 00:25:10.700 Because not every tension in life is caused by 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:13.559 sins and confession and forgiveness are for sin 00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:17.980 or sins. What the Bible calls a sin. But a lot 00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:19.839 of the time what we experience is just human 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:23.259 limitations or weakness or differences. You forgot 00:25:23.259 --> 00:25:25.599 to do something that you said you were going 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:29.259 to do because you got distracted. You misunderstood 00:25:29.259 --> 00:25:32.259 a text message. because you were tired, or you 00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:34.180 say something true, but you say it in a direct 00:25:34.180 --> 00:25:36.640 way, without any of the social pleasantries or 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:39.720 decorum, and someone takes it the wrong way. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:45.740 That's not sin. That's called being human. And 00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:48.519 all of us, last I checked, are human, right? 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:53.920 We don't need to address it or talk it out. We 00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:00.220 extend grace. We absorb it. We let it go. We 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:04.039 move on. It also means not getting offended on 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:06.380 someone else's behalf. It means bearing with 00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:11.359 one another. But then Paul shifts and says, and 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:14.460 forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:16.700 And now we're talking about something different. 00:26:16.740 --> 00:26:21.259 Now we're talking about actual sin. Something 00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:26.200 the scripture would call wrong. Harsh words or 00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:31.180 rash words. Gossip or... selfishness, a genuine 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:36.960 sinful injury. And in those moments, we're not 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:40.640 called to just bear with, we're called to forgive. 00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:45.440 So you hear that and you go, oh, here's when 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:48.079 they really hurt me. What am I supposed to do? 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:49.819 What does the word say? When are they really 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:52.180 hurt me? Not just be human, but they really hurt 00:26:52.180 --> 00:26:55.720 me. Oh yeah, just being human, that's bear with. 00:26:56.019 --> 00:27:01.440 Really hurt? That's forgive. And Paul uses this 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.400 powerful word for forgive. It really just means 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:10.480 graciously cancel a debt. In other words, when 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:13.680 someone sins against you, they owe you something. 00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:17.759 When someone was a human, being a human, they 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:20.720 don't owe you anything. But when someone sins 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:24.220 against you, they do owe you something. And forgiveness 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:27.579 says, I'm choosing to release the debt, to absorb 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:30.480 the cost, the impact, instead of holding it against 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:41.180 you and over you. Why would we do that? Why would 00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:49.500 we ever do that? Paul says next, because just 00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:57.440 as the Lord has forgiven, That's the anchor. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:01.480 That's the tether of this whole teaching. Because 00:28:01.480 --> 00:28:04.059 when you look at what Christ has forgiven you 00:28:04.059 --> 00:28:06.680 or how he has forgiven you, it changes how you 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:10.220 hold on to what others owe you, even legitimately 00:28:10.220 --> 00:28:16.180 owe you. Jesus didn't minimize your sin. Jesus 00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:18.740 didn't ignore it. He didn't say, it's no big 00:28:18.740 --> 00:28:22.460 deal. He absorbed the cost of yours and my sin 00:28:22.460 --> 00:28:27.440 in his death. Colossians 2 says he canceled the 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:30.339 record of debt that stood against us. Amen? Hallelujah? 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:36.880 Not by pretending it wasn't there, not rose -colored 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.319 glasses towards us, but by paying for it at the 00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:44.960 cross. And so now we forgive from what we have 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:52.380 received. Forgiveness doesn't mean pretending 00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:55.700 it didn't hurt. It doesn't mean that there aren't 00:28:55.700 --> 00:28:57.519 boundaries that need to be set. It doesn't mean 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:00.460 that trust is instantly rebelled because there's 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:02.680 another factor which is forgiveness is not the 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:07.880 same as reconciliation. Reconciliation requires 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:12.559 two people. But forgiveness is something you 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:15.240 can do before God regardless of where the other 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:21.259 person stands on the issue. And so there's a 00:29:21.259 --> 00:29:24.480 vertical step before there's ever a horizontal 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:31.000 step. You start by entrusting it to God. God, 00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:34.619 you see this. You know the pain. You know the 00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:38.359 cost. You've paid for all the sins of mankind. 00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:42.819 You know what was done here, and I release this 00:29:42.819 --> 00:29:49.940 to you. You are judge. I am not. And then, If 00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:52.380 there is confession of wrongdoing by the one 00:29:52.380 --> 00:29:57.220 who sinned, forgiveness can be introduced as 00:29:57.220 --> 00:29:59.940 a relational transaction that leads to reconciliation. 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:04.640 I forgive you. Not halfway, no strings attached. 00:30:04.839 --> 00:30:11.480 Freely forgive you. Some of you, you're carrying 00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:14.579 something right now. Some of you are holding 00:30:14.579 --> 00:30:21.759 on to a debt. And it's costing you. You may not 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:23.839 be able to quantify the cost, but unforgiveness 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.059 doesn't just keep them in prison. It also puts 00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:29.740 you in prison with them. But forgiveness breaks 00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:33.740 down the doors. And it's not because they earned 00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:36.359 it. It's not because they said the right thing. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:44.079 It's because Christ gave it to you freely. And 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:46.700 so here's a question. Where do you need to bear 00:30:46.700 --> 00:30:50.349 with someone? And where do you need to forgive? 00:30:50.910 --> 00:30:57.230 Don't confuse the two. Some things you just need 00:30:57.230 --> 00:31:00.890 to absorb and let go. Other things you entrust 00:31:00.890 --> 00:31:05.950 to God and then you stand eager and ready and 00:31:05.950 --> 00:31:09.390 waiting to release the other person from their 00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:11.569 debt when confession happens so that reconciliation 00:31:11.569 --> 00:31:16.869 can happen. This is how the grace cycle moves 00:31:16.869 --> 00:31:20.319 forward. We clothe ourselves with compassion. 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:25.200 We confess humbly and we forgive freely just 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:27.420 as we were forgiven in Christ. And when that 00:31:27.420 --> 00:31:30.900 happens, well, the dial turns to number four. 00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:35.759 Experience healing. Back to James chapter 5, 00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:43.220 16. Confess your sins to one another and pray 00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:48.400 for one another so that you may be healed. And 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:51.140 don't miss this. Not just confess, not just forgive 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:54.119 and move on, but confess, forgive, and then pray. 00:31:55.220 --> 00:32:03.279 Why? Because God brings healing through it. The 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.940 word healed carries the idea of restored, made 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:11.079 whole again, at oneness, where we get the idea 00:32:11.079 --> 00:32:16.059 of atonement. At oneness, which means God doesn't 00:32:16.059 --> 00:32:18.119 just want to deal with our offenses. He wants 00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:20.579 to restore what was actually damaged by our offenses. 00:32:23.660 --> 00:32:26.579 And the way he often does this is through prayer 00:32:26.579 --> 00:32:30.380 with one another. Not just private prayer, but 00:32:30.380 --> 00:32:35.180 shared prayer. I'm with you in this. Let's bring 00:32:35.180 --> 00:32:39.519 this to God together. And the best place to start, 00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:42.880 if it's possible, is with the person involved. 00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:49.599 Pray with them. Church people, we can get a little 00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:51.380 squirrely, right? We can use prayer as a way 00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:54.720 of spreading the news, right? Come pray with 00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:56.339 me, and you come pray with me, and let's just 00:32:56.339 --> 00:32:58.500 pray about this issue, and then pretty soon we've 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:00.680 told the whole church through our prayer requests, 00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:03.039 right? No, the idea of prayer is to bring healing 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:06.799 to the relationship. So we take the step of praying 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:09.500 with one another, and whatever way will bring 00:33:09.500 --> 00:33:13.150 healing, to what is broken, what is damaged. 00:33:14.269 --> 00:33:17.910 And God meets us in that space. He begins to 00:33:17.910 --> 00:33:22.170 restore what was broken. And this is not about 00:33:22.170 --> 00:33:26.029 individuals. It's not just about what we do individually, 00:33:26.150 --> 00:33:28.049 but it's also about who we are becoming as a 00:33:28.049 --> 00:33:30.490 church, what kind of church we are, what kind 00:33:30.490 --> 00:33:36.619 of gathered up, called out ones we are. Do we 00:33:36.619 --> 00:33:39.099 become a church where people hide and where everything 00:33:39.099 --> 00:33:41.119 looks fine on the surface, but the moment you 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:43.119 get underneath, there's all kinds of distance 00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:45.599 and tension and all kinds of silent treatment 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:48.119 or whatever's going on, like all kinds of things 00:33:48.119 --> 00:33:50.859 under the surface? Or are we becoming a church 00:33:50.859 --> 00:33:54.420 where it's safe to be honest and humble, where 00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:56.519 we can expose and say, I'm struggling with this, 00:33:56.599 --> 00:33:59.880 I have done this, and God does call it this, 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:02.119 and I want to turn and agree with him. Will you 00:34:02.119 --> 00:34:04.039 pray with me? And this doesn't become a drama. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:08.900 Can we be that church? Could we be those people? 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:15.280 Instead of judgment, grace upon grace upon grace 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:18.500 is met in that moment. The kind of community 00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:21.099 the New Testament envisioned for the church. 00:34:24.619 --> 00:34:27.519 So after confession, after forgiveness, don't 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:33.260 move on too quickly. Pray. Pray, God, would you 00:34:33.260 --> 00:34:38.780 heal what was damaged here? Pray, would you restore 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:44.199 trust? Pray, would you bring peace where there 00:34:44.199 --> 00:34:51.460 was tension? Pray, would you bring grace to this 00:34:51.460 --> 00:34:54.699 situation? And in your family, again, it might 00:34:54.699 --> 00:34:58.699 look like a rhythm of... Just taking a moment 00:34:58.699 --> 00:35:01.099 at least once a week and sitting down as a family 00:35:01.099 --> 00:35:02.539 and going, hey, do we need to clear the air? 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:07.860 As parents, it might mean that we step into the 00:35:07.860 --> 00:35:13.159 role of the first confessor. It's hard when you're 00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:14.980 a parent and you kind of feel like you're on 00:35:14.980 --> 00:35:16.780 your high horse, but you step down, you stoop 00:35:16.780 --> 00:35:20.500 down and you say, I was wrong. I did this. God 00:35:20.500 --> 00:35:24.440 says this about it. I was wrong. And I'm agreeing 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:29.449 with him. My son, Kaya, or Gabe, or Nate, I've 00:35:29.449 --> 00:35:31.250 had to do it with all of them. Will you pray 00:35:31.250 --> 00:35:36.989 for me? I need your faith to move forward with 00:35:36.989 --> 00:35:40.190 this. But we might build into our rhythm weekly 00:35:40.190 --> 00:35:44.409 as a family. Hey, we're doing a check -in. I'm 00:35:44.409 --> 00:35:47.150 going to lead the way. I'm going to confess, 00:35:47.389 --> 00:35:49.449 or I'm going to offer forgiveness, or I'm going 00:35:49.449 --> 00:35:51.429 to model that with my spouse right in front of 00:35:51.429 --> 00:35:53.889 you, or whatever it is. that might create those 00:35:53.889 --> 00:35:56.289 moments of discipleship where you're modeling 00:35:56.289 --> 00:36:01.829 the gospel right in front of your family. If 00:36:01.829 --> 00:36:04.230 you're in a disciple group, what if this wasn't 00:36:04.230 --> 00:36:07.550 rare? What if this was normal? What if it's just 00:36:07.550 --> 00:36:11.190 normal? Hey, I did this, God calls it that, and 00:36:11.190 --> 00:36:12.650 I want to agree with him. Will you pray for me? 00:36:13.409 --> 00:36:15.110 That's just the way it is, that it doesn't end 00:36:15.110 --> 00:36:19.730 up becoming drama. When we live in the grace 00:36:19.730 --> 00:36:24.329 cycle, healing follows. And that leads us to 00:36:24.329 --> 00:36:26.849 kind of this question underneath as we wrap it 00:36:26.849 --> 00:36:29.789 up. Where does this power come to live this way 00:36:29.789 --> 00:36:34.989 in this life? And if we're honest, it's not natural. 00:36:35.010 --> 00:36:37.190 It doesn't come natural to us to confess humbly 00:36:37.190 --> 00:36:40.329 or forgive or to seek healing through prayer. 00:36:40.409 --> 00:36:42.590 That's not where we naturally go. That goes against 00:36:42.590 --> 00:36:44.409 everything in us. And that's where the gospel 00:36:44.409 --> 00:36:47.369 comes in and shines bright and meets us there. 00:36:47.429 --> 00:36:50.489 Because the gospel, well, you see this, if this 00:36:50.489 --> 00:36:53.150 message today is just landing on you as, great, 00:36:53.230 --> 00:36:55.489 I'm going to try harder to be more honest and 00:36:55.489 --> 00:36:58.670 I'm going to try to be more forgiving. You're 00:36:58.670 --> 00:37:00.269 going to walk out of here either discouraged 00:37:00.269 --> 00:37:05.960 or pretending. This kind of life does not come 00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:10.400 from willpower. It comes from the gospel of Jesus 00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:14.179 Christ. Everything we've talked about today, 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:18.199 Jesus has already done perfectly. And not in 00:37:18.199 --> 00:37:20.719 some general sense, but specifically in how he 00:37:20.719 --> 00:37:24.000 dealt with our sins. Romans chapter five in verse 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:27.199 eight says, while we were still sinners, Christ 00:37:27.199 --> 00:37:31.360 what? Christ died for us. He didn't wait till 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.760 you had it all cleaned up. He began to move toward 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:37.760 you in your sin. And Colossians 2 says that he 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:40.139 canceled the record of debt that stood against 00:37:40.139 --> 00:37:43.260 us. Every sin, every failure, every moment we 00:37:43.260 --> 00:37:47.880 chose ourselves over God, ignored? No. Excused? 00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:55.800 No. Paid for. Absorbed at the cross. And even 00:37:55.800 --> 00:37:58.460 at the cross in Luke chapter 23, what is Jesus 00:37:58.460 --> 00:38:01.360 praying while he's on the cross? Father, forgive 00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:06.619 them. That's the kind of forgiveness we've received, 00:38:06.820 --> 00:38:09.219 which means you are not starting from empty. 00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:14.579 You are starting from grace. You don't confess 00:38:14.579 --> 00:38:17.139 to earn forgiveness. You confess because you've 00:38:17.139 --> 00:38:22.260 already been forgiven. Debt canceled, free, redeemed. 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:25.719 You don't forgive others to prove something. 00:38:26.889 --> 00:38:29.349 You forgive because something has been given 00:38:29.349 --> 00:38:35.489 to you. Someone has forgiven you more. I want 00:38:35.489 --> 00:38:38.889 to read Matthew chapter 18 really quick. I threw 00:38:38.889 --> 00:38:40.889 this in at the last minute, so it's not in my 00:38:40.889 --> 00:38:42.849 print here, but I'm going to turn over there 00:38:42.849 --> 00:38:44.469 and I'm just going to read it really quick before 00:38:44.469 --> 00:38:47.849 I just move on with what I have written. And 00:38:47.849 --> 00:38:50.849 I just want to lay it out there. God's word doing 00:38:50.849 --> 00:38:54.250 God's work in God's people. Amen. Then Peter 00:38:54.250 --> 00:38:56.289 approached him. This is Jesus in chapter 18, 00:38:56.409 --> 00:38:59.329 verse 21 of Matthew. Then Peter approached him 00:38:59.329 --> 00:39:02.929 and asked, Lord, how many times must I forgive 00:39:02.929 --> 00:39:04.849 my brother or sister when they sin against me? 00:39:06.289 --> 00:39:14.030 As many as seven times? I tell you, not as many 00:39:14.030 --> 00:39:16.570 as seven times. And Peter's probably going, that's 00:39:16.570 --> 00:39:22.360 what I thought. Three times, right? But 70 times 00:39:22.360 --> 00:39:27.059 seven. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven 00:39:27.059 --> 00:39:30.159 can be compared to a king who wanted to settle 00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:32.579 accounts with his servants. When he began to 00:39:32.579 --> 00:39:35.639 settle accounts, one who owed him 10 ,000 talents, 00:39:35.739 --> 00:39:41.480 10 ,000 talents, sidebar, 20 years salary. 20 00:39:41.480 --> 00:39:44.159 years salary. So get that in your mind. 20 years 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:49.630 salary. One servant owed the king 20 years salary 00:39:49.630 --> 00:39:52.130 was brought before him. Since he did not have 00:39:52.130 --> 00:39:54.190 the money to pay it back, his master commanded 00:39:54.190 --> 00:39:56.929 that he, his wife, his children, and everything 00:39:56.929 --> 00:40:00.230 that he had be sold to pay the debt. At this, 00:40:00.269 --> 00:40:03.269 the servant fell face down before him and said, 00:40:03.289 --> 00:40:06.329 be patient with me and I will pay you everything. 00:40:07.489 --> 00:40:10.789 Then the master of the servant had compassion 00:40:10.789 --> 00:40:14.730 on him and released him and forgave him the loan. 00:40:15.389 --> 00:40:19.789 20 -year salary. That servant went out and found 00:40:19.789 --> 00:40:23.550 one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii, 00:40:23.550 --> 00:40:34.409 100 denarii, one day's pay. One day's pay. I 00:40:34.409 --> 00:40:38.989 need my reading glasses. Went out and found the 00:40:38.989 --> 00:40:42.650 one. 100 denarii. He grabbed him, the other servant 00:40:42.650 --> 00:40:44.710 grabbed the servant that owed him one day's pay, 00:40:44.829 --> 00:40:47.369 grabbed him and started choking him and said, 00:40:47.449 --> 00:40:51.510 pay what you owe. And at this, his fellow servant 00:40:51.510 --> 00:40:54.250 fell down and began to beg him, be patient with 00:40:54.250 --> 00:40:57.969 me and I will pay you back. But he wasn't willing. 00:40:58.170 --> 00:41:01.070 Instead, he went and threw him into prison until 00:41:01.070 --> 00:41:04.079 he could pay what was owed. When the other servants 00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:07.059 saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed 00:41:07.059 --> 00:41:09.260 and went and reported to their master everything 00:41:09.260 --> 00:41:12.139 that had happened. And then after he had summoned 00:41:12.139 --> 00:41:16.400 him, his master said to him, you wicked servant, 00:41:16.539 --> 00:41:20.659 I forgave you all that debt because you begged 00:41:20.659 --> 00:41:23.840 me. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow 00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:28.000 servant as I had mercy on you? And because he 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:30.760 was angry, his master handed him over to the 00:41:30.760 --> 00:41:33.460 jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything 00:41:33.460 --> 00:41:36.940 that was owed. So also my heavenly father will 00:41:36.940 --> 00:41:40.420 do to you unless every one of you forgives his 00:41:40.420 --> 00:41:47.639 brother or sister from your heart. I don't have 00:41:47.639 --> 00:41:52.119 time to go verse by verse through that. But do 00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:55.219 you get the sense that God takes forgiveness 00:41:55.219 --> 00:41:59.030 seriously? especially if you've received it from 00:41:59.030 --> 00:42:11.829 him. In Christ, you are already secure. In Christ, 00:42:11.829 --> 00:42:15.130 your debt is paid. You are already loved more 00:42:15.130 --> 00:42:18.230 than you can imagine. You are already forgiven 00:42:18.230 --> 00:42:22.849 more than you dare dream. And so you're now free 00:42:22.849 --> 00:42:27.969 to release others. Not because it's easy, but 00:42:27.969 --> 00:42:32.610 because it's already been done for you. And if 00:42:32.610 --> 00:42:35.150 you're here today and you've never actually received 00:42:35.150 --> 00:42:39.010 the forgiveness of God, this is where it begins. 00:42:40.690 --> 00:42:46.050 Not a try -harder sermon, but a surrender message. 00:42:47.610 --> 00:42:53.630 It begins by admitting, I need grace. It's the 00:42:53.630 --> 00:42:57.130 only way to deal with all of my sin. And it moves 00:42:57.130 --> 00:43:00.349 to believing that Jesus died to cancel the debt 00:43:00.349 --> 00:43:02.949 I owed and rose from the grave to prove it and 00:43:02.949 --> 00:43:05.510 to show that he is the life I've always needed. 00:43:07.570 --> 00:43:11.349 And receiving. Receive the forgiveness and new 00:43:11.349 --> 00:43:16.099 life you could never earn on your own. And for 00:43:16.099 --> 00:43:17.920 those of you who are in Christ, this is your 00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:20.900 invitation. Remember the gospel again and live 00:43:20.900 --> 00:43:25.000 like it toward others. Step into the grace you've 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.300 already been given. Confess humbly. Forgive freely. 00:43:28.519 --> 00:43:31.280 The cross has already made it all possible for 00:43:31.280 --> 00:43:35.860 you. I just remind us that the credibility of 00:43:35.860 --> 00:43:38.420 the church's witness is tied directly to how 00:43:38.420 --> 00:43:43.099 we treat one another. And this is one of the 00:43:43.099 --> 00:43:45.260 clearest ways the world sees the gospel lived 00:43:45.260 --> 00:43:49.699 out. Do we look like the cross? Do we look like 00:43:49.699 --> 00:43:53.059 the place where our debt was absorbed by Christ? 00:43:53.579 --> 00:43:57.559 Or do we look like everyone else? Keeping records, 00:43:57.820 --> 00:44:02.380 holding things over one another. And so here's 00:44:02.380 --> 00:44:04.639 what I want to invite us into. In a few minutes, 00:44:04.659 --> 00:44:07.960 we're going to receive communion. And the early 00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:10.780 church had a practice. That stems from their 00:44:10.780 --> 00:44:12.860 understanding of Paul's instruction and understanding 00:44:12.860 --> 00:44:15.440 of what communion meant and the unity around 00:44:15.440 --> 00:44:19.380 it. And it begins with something like this question. 00:44:19.559 --> 00:44:23.900 Is there something you need to confess? Is there 00:44:23.900 --> 00:44:26.460 some way you've been living in dark, hidden, 00:44:26.579 --> 00:44:29.039 where you haven't agreed with God yet on something 00:44:29.039 --> 00:44:31.940 and you need to begin to agree with God that 00:44:31.940 --> 00:44:33.920 his word is true and what he says about something 00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:36.460 is true and then bring yourself into alignment 00:44:36.460 --> 00:44:39.800 with that truth, walking out of here free. Remember, 00:44:39.840 --> 00:44:42.280 this is not a bad thing. This is God's grace 00:44:42.280 --> 00:44:44.960 at restoration. This is through repentance and 00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:47.840 faith that you can be healed. He's inviting you 00:44:47.840 --> 00:44:52.440 to confess freely. Maybe for some of you, there's 00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:54.659 a conversation you've been avoiding or a sin 00:44:54.659 --> 00:44:58.880 that you've been minimizing. Something that needs 00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:01.500 to come into the light or someone that you need 00:45:01.500 --> 00:45:03.599 to forgive or a debt that you're still holding 00:45:03.599 --> 00:45:06.420 over someone. A moment that you keep replaying 00:45:06.420 --> 00:45:08.539 over and over and over and over again in your 00:45:08.539 --> 00:45:16.599 head. Or maybe you need relational healing through 00:45:16.599 --> 00:45:21.599 prayer. Maybe it's for you. Maybe it's for you 00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:23.420 and someone else and you've gone through the 00:45:23.420 --> 00:45:25.360 process of confess and forgive but you want to 00:45:25.360 --> 00:45:32.619 receive prayer. My wife, her father, sinned greatly 00:45:32.619 --> 00:45:37.480 against her. In many ways, we don't have time 00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:41.059 to get into it. He's passed on now. He sinned 00:45:41.059 --> 00:45:44.139 greatly against my wife. And toward the back 00:45:44.139 --> 00:45:46.599 half of his life, the last year or so, she had 00:45:46.599 --> 00:45:50.179 an opportunity to again be in contact with him 00:45:50.179 --> 00:45:54.659 as he was going through a suffering time in the 00:45:54.659 --> 00:45:57.699 hospital. because of a lot of life choices he 00:45:57.699 --> 00:46:02.119 had made. And he opened the door for that, only 00:46:02.119 --> 00:46:06.280 to find out it was another transgression, an 00:46:06.280 --> 00:46:10.659 attempt to manipulate her for money and other 00:46:10.659 --> 00:46:17.079 things. And then he decided one day that he was 00:46:17.079 --> 00:46:18.820 going to light up a cigarette while he had his 00:46:18.820 --> 00:46:23.880 oxygen on. And yeah, you can imagine that wasn't 00:46:23.880 --> 00:46:27.019 a good... good experience there. But shortly 00:46:27.019 --> 00:46:31.199 after that, he passed away. And so some of you, 00:46:31.239 --> 00:46:34.699 I know, we're talking about relational strife 00:46:34.699 --> 00:46:37.619 or things that they're not even present now. 00:46:37.659 --> 00:46:41.440 You can't go to them and deal with it. They're 00:46:41.440 --> 00:46:46.320 gone. And my wife had to reconcile with the reality 00:46:46.320 --> 00:46:48.480 that she could not reconcile with him, first 00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:52.880 off, because he didn't want it. He never confessed. 00:46:53.739 --> 00:46:56.400 He never repented. He never leaned in. And so 00:46:56.400 --> 00:47:00.079 reconciliation wasn't even possible. But when 00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:04.860 my wife realized, it's like, where's my wife? 00:47:05.320 --> 00:47:10.420 There she is. When my wife realized that and 00:47:10.420 --> 00:47:14.880 came to the awareness that forgiveness was possible, 00:47:14.940 --> 00:47:19.300 that she could entrust it to God, she could be 00:47:19.300 --> 00:47:22.730 free. She could walk forward, not with hate in 00:47:22.730 --> 00:47:26.489 her heart, or not with a, you owe me something, 00:47:26.650 --> 00:47:33.849 but what actually became a tenderhearted sorrow 00:47:33.849 --> 00:47:39.909 that he would live in such a way before his God 00:47:39.909 --> 00:47:44.429 and creator. And so for some of you, it is, maybe 00:47:44.429 --> 00:47:47.269 the prayer is, yeah, they're gone and I can't. 00:47:47.519 --> 00:47:49.380 deal with them, but I can go before the Lord 00:47:49.380 --> 00:47:52.340 and trust it to him. And I want to do that today. 00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:53.960 I haven't done it, but I want to do it today. 00:47:54.400 --> 00:47:58.599 I want healing that comes through laying it before 00:47:58.599 --> 00:48:00.860 the Lord and trusting him and praying together 00:48:00.860 --> 00:48:04.119 with a brother or sister. And so the band's going 00:48:04.119 --> 00:48:05.659 to lead us in a song. We're going to receive 00:48:05.659 --> 00:48:07.420 communion after that, but we're going to just 00:48:07.420 --> 00:48:08.019 respond now.