WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.679 Welcome, everybody. Welcome online. Happy Mother's 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:09.560 Day to moms. My name is Bob. I am the discipleship 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:13.019 pastor here at Heights. So with my job, I have 00:00:13.019 --> 00:00:15.939 the opportunity to help people take steps to 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:18.719 mature in their faith and learn to follow Jesus 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.719 more fully. And I love my job. I'm not up here 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:25.699 a lot, but I love what I do. I was up here a 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:28.559 couple weeks ago talking about a recent missions 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.579 trip to Dominican Republic. And it really is 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:34.240 amazing what we do down there. So we work with 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:36.979 Casa Misionera and we work with a church called 00:00:36.979 --> 00:00:40.479 Iglesia de Restauracion. But our main thing is 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.560 we work with these students who they want to 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:45.539 learn leadership. So we go down there to teach 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:48.500 leadership. In fact, their mission vision statement 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:53.119 for Casa Misionera is training the future Christian 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:57.060 leaders of tomorrow today. And so I get excited 00:00:57.060 --> 00:00:58.280 because we're going to go down and teach leadership. 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.439 So as we're planning the trip, you know, we're 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:02.939 talking online with them and stuff. And they 00:01:02.939 --> 00:01:05.620 go, oh, but Bob, you will preach on a Sunday 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:09.400 at church. And I do love preaching at the church, 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:11.480 but it's stressful for me sometimes. So I'm like, 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:14.500 okay, we're good. We're good. So that Sunday 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:16.980 comes, I preach at the church and it went well 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:20.379 and everything was good. But if I'm honest, I 00:01:20.379 --> 00:01:22.599 just sat there like relieved that that part was 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.590 over. And now I get to focus on leadership. And 00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:29.709 so we did it. The next day, we're on the bus. 00:01:29.849 --> 00:01:31.790 We went to public schools to preach the gospel. 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:34.890 We had lunch. And then I would say it was probably 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:36.769 like 2 in the afternoon. We're on our way to 00:01:36.769 --> 00:01:39.629 a work project. And the leader for Casa Misionera 00:01:39.629 --> 00:01:41.450 comes up and goes, tonight when you're preaching. 00:01:41.549 --> 00:01:45.109 And I'm like, OK, what? And she goes, yeah, you're 00:01:45.109 --> 00:01:47.489 preaching tonight. And here's the thing. I'm 00:01:47.489 --> 00:01:50.430 on a missions trip. I want to try to be as flexible 00:01:50.430 --> 00:01:53.010 as I can and do whatever they ask of me. But 00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:55.640 I'd only prepared one message. And I'm like, 00:01:55.739 --> 00:01:58.000 it takes me a long time because I want to do 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:00.060 a lot of research and make sure I'm doing God's 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:02.420 word justice. And I'm like, OK. So I skipped 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:04.599 the rest of the afternoon work thing. And I got 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.200 my computer out. And I'm in the bus working on 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:09.979 something. And the night came, did it. And it 00:02:09.979 --> 00:02:13.159 was OK. It felt OK. Done with it. Well, then 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:15.580 the next day, we're doing work projects. And 00:02:15.580 --> 00:02:17.060 we're doing this. And then 2 o 'clock in the 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:18.740 afternoon, they go, so tonight when you're preaching. 00:02:18.860 --> 00:02:21.039 And I'm like, OK, I'm going to stop you right 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.020 there. So what I did instead is I had our team 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:27.599 give testimonies and one of our team members 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:30.439 taught, and it was amazing, better than I could 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:33.180 have ever done. But I say all that because today 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:35.759 I really felt like I had time to prep, and I 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:37.919 really feel like God laid a message on my heart. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.719 And to introduce the topic, I want to tell you 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:43.460 something that happened on the missions trip. 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:47.199 So we're in this small village putting on a tin 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:49.740 roof on this building. And I'd say, you're on 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:51.840 this dirt patch, probably about as big as this. 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.479 So our team's kind of spread out talking to people. 00:02:54.860 --> 00:02:57.039 And one of the guys on the trip, he's 19 years 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.300 old. His name is Jackson. He is playing with 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:04.180 this mangy, nasty, ugly little stray cat. And 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:06.560 he's petting it and stuff. So one of the elders 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:08.680 on our trip, Kip was on the trip. So Kip comes 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:10.400 over, he goes. I'm going to mess with Jackson. 00:03:10.460 --> 00:03:11.860 Just go along with it. So I'm like, okay. So 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:13.280 I just kind of walk away because I'm going to 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:16.360 follow a lead. So I hear him go up to Jackson. 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:19.819 He goes, were you petting that cat? And he goes, 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:23.599 yeah, why? He goes, well, it has worms. And Jackson's 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:24.879 like, well, I don't see worms. He goes, you don't 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:27.479 see worms. And Kip goes on to explain how he 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:29.680 knows that this cat has worms. So at this point, 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:31.319 I figured I'm set up to come over. So I come 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:33.500 over and Jackson comes at me like this. And I 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:35.780 go, whoa, whoa, don't hug me. Were you petting 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:38.719 that cat? And he goes, yeah, why? I go, well, 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:41.419 it obviously has worms. He goes, what? I go, 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.979 it does. And I said, you just got that fresh 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:44.879 tattoo on your hand. That's how they get in. 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:47.860 And he goes, what? I go, they will. They'll get 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:50.419 in through that open sore on your hand. And he 00:03:50.419 --> 00:03:54.120 looks horrified. So then Kip goes on to explain. 00:03:55.229 --> 00:03:58.050 All the horrible symptoms in graphic detail that 00:03:58.050 --> 00:04:00.270 would start happening as the day and night went 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:02.750 on. So I'm trying not to laugh. I'm like, I just 00:04:02.750 --> 00:04:05.310 got to walk away. So I leave and I see Jackson 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:07.310 going over to every woman on our trip like, hey, 00:04:07.370 --> 00:04:09.750 do you have hand sanitizer? And he's like doing 00:04:09.750 --> 00:04:13.490 the whole bathing thing, trying not to laugh. 00:04:13.590 --> 00:04:16.470 So then a little bit later, Pastor Alessandro 00:04:16.470 --> 00:04:18.449 is talking to me and he only speaks Spanish. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.139 So I get words and phrases. I don't get the whole 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:23.680 thing. But as I'm talking to him, Jackson comes 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.240 up, and Jackson's here, and I'm talking to Alessandro. 00:04:26.459 --> 00:04:29.279 And I see he keeps looking over at Jackson. He 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:30.560 talked to me and looked at me. I don't even know 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:32.600 what he's saying. So he walks away, and Jackson 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:35.779 goes, what was he saying? I said, I think he's 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:37.319 worried that we should take you to the hospital 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:42.259 right now. Then I see him bathing two more bottles 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:45.519 of hand sanitizer. So a little later, I thought, 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:49.040 you just see him doing this. And I'm like, we 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.860 got to tell him. So it's just a joke. Well, Jackson 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:55.160 was part of a 12 -step program, and he went through 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:57.420 step work. So he goes, I just added you to my 00:04:57.420 --> 00:05:02.339 step four. And step four is you take a moral 00:05:02.339 --> 00:05:05.300 inventory of people that have wronged you or 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:09.459 hurt you in horrible ways with the idea of forgiving 00:05:09.459 --> 00:05:13.019 them. So he's not in this service, but I think 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:15.480 he's forgiving me now. I think he did his step 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.000 four. But I would say this. As funny as the story 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.279 is, forgiveness really is a big deal. And forgiveness 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:27.100 or the lack of forgiveness that you have, it 00:05:27.100 --> 00:05:28.779 affects you spiritually, and we'll talk about 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:31.939 that. But it also affects you emotionally and 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:35.079 physically. So I read a recent study from John 00:05:35.079 --> 00:05:38.800 Hopkins, and it says this. Unforgiveness is linked 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:42.300 to higher incidences of stress, heart disease, 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:45.879 high blood pressure, lowered immune response. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:51.540 anxiety, depression, and other issues. It does 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:54.040 affect you. And I don't know if you've heard 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:56.720 this saying before, but unforgiveness is like 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:00.060 drinking poison yourself and waiting for the 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:04.360 other person to die. The other person is rarely, 00:06:04.379 --> 00:06:07.379 if ever, affected, but it can slowly kill you. 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:11.699 And God knows unforgiveness is not good for us. 00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:14.379 He made you. He designed us, and he knows us 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:17.800 intimately. So he has a lot to say about unforgiveness. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.019 And so I want to look at Matthew 18 today because 00:06:22.019 --> 00:06:24.899 he speaks so strongly about the subject of forgiveness. 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:27.100 So if you have Bibles with you or your phones 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:29.360 and you want to turn there, it's Matthew 18. 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:35.680 We're going to start in verse 21 and 22. And 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:39.639 it says this. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 00:06:39.860 --> 00:06:42.720 Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:46.149 or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:49.990 Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, 00:06:50.110 --> 00:06:54.610 but 70 -7 times, or it might say 70 times 7. 00:06:55.529 --> 00:06:58.230 So in the verses prior to this, Jesus is speaking 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:01.290 about what happens if a brother or sister sins 00:07:01.290 --> 00:07:04.029 against you. So we don't know Peter's motive 00:07:04.029 --> 00:07:07.269 for asking the question. He may have wanted to 00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:11.430 know more about forgiveness. He may have realized 00:07:11.430 --> 00:07:13.689 he had something against a brother, one of the 00:07:13.689 --> 00:07:17.129 disciples. or he may have been trying to make 00:07:17.129 --> 00:07:20.689 himself look good because Jewish tradition at 00:07:20.689 --> 00:07:23.529 that time said you were obligated to forgive 00:07:23.529 --> 00:07:28.050 a brother for the same offense three times. But 00:07:28.050 --> 00:07:30.850 if they did the same thing the fourth time, you 00:07:30.850 --> 00:07:32.949 were no longer obligated to forgive because it 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:36.529 kind of proved that they were unrepentant. So 00:07:36.529 --> 00:07:39.550 Peter must have felt pretty generous because 00:07:39.550 --> 00:07:43.709 he takes the Jewish tradition of three, multiplies 00:07:43.709 --> 00:07:47.509 it by two, And adds one. So seven sounds pretty 00:07:47.509 --> 00:07:51.910 generous. But Jesus knows that Peter's thoughts 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:55.550 of generosity are human thoughts and not God's 00:07:55.550 --> 00:08:00.050 thoughts. And he wants Peter to know how extravagant 00:08:00.050 --> 00:08:02.610 it is. So he goes, not seven times, Peter, 70 00:08:02.610 --> 00:08:06.329 times seven. The number, it wasn't about the 00:08:06.329 --> 00:08:09.129 number. What it was about is how extravagant 00:08:09.129 --> 00:08:12.529 and endless forgiveness is. Some of you know 00:08:12.529 --> 00:08:16.230 that I used to be a mailman in Cleveland, Ohio, 00:08:16.410 --> 00:08:20.490 and I have a hidden talent that I don't want 00:08:20.490 --> 00:08:25.870 to brag about. They keep saying they're going 00:08:25.870 --> 00:08:28.689 to switch this to the smaller target, but I could 00:08:28.689 --> 00:08:40.320 shoot a rubber band. It's pretty amazing. The 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.759 reason I say that is because we used to shoot 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:45.919 each other with rubber bands all the time at 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.519 the post office. It was this nonstop thing that 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.360 we would do with each other, all the guys. Does 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.620 anyone in here work for the post office? Anyone? 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.779 Do you guys do that still? You do, see? It's 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:02.360 so fun, isn't it? So I love it, and I was really 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:03.919 good at it, and those things really do hurt. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.759 But I worked with a Christian. One of the mailmen 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:09.629 was a Christian. His name was Mark Burke. And 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:12.330 he worked directly behind me, so he'd be probably 00:09:12.330 --> 00:09:14.809 right where that screen is. And you're in a case, 00:09:14.870 --> 00:09:15.809 so every once in a while I'd just turn around 00:09:15.809 --> 00:09:18.610 and peg him. And I'd get him pretty good, you 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:20.710 know. And so then one day, he never shot back. 00:09:21.409 --> 00:09:22.710 And then he comes up and he goes, I'm going to 00:09:22.710 --> 00:09:25.809 start keeping track. I go, of what? He goes, 00:09:25.830 --> 00:09:27.889 you shooting me? Because Jesus said I only have 00:09:27.889 --> 00:09:31.850 to forgive 70 times 7. And I didn't realize, 00:09:32.110 --> 00:09:34.730 but he got a piece of paper, and apparently he 00:09:34.730 --> 00:09:38.539 was marking it. And every time... and then I 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:42.919 guess I hit 491 at one point, and he just unleashed 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:45.659 on me. I was kind of just at my case like this, 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.539 and I got hit so bad. It was so bad that later 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:51.340 that day I went to the gym to work out, and after 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:52.500 I was done working out, I was getting dressed. 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:55.480 I had my shirt off, and some guy is staring at 00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:59.980 me. So I'm like, do we have a problem? He goes, 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:02.139 yeah, I think we do. I think you have a disease 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:04.200 or ringworm or something. You've got all these 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:07.019 round welts all over your back. I go. Oh, no, 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:09.179 no, no, I just work over at the post office. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:11.519 Which at the time I said that, I don't even know 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.080 why I thought that would answer the whole thing 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:15.740 for him. I never saw him at the gym after that 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:19.899 either. It was so weird. By the way, this is 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:22.840 why I keep notes out here, because I tend to 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:25.980 stray off subject a little bit. But the point 00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:29.820 is, it wasn't about forgiving 490 times. The 00:10:29.820 --> 00:10:33.259 point is, the forgiveness we get is endless. 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:37.820 It's not a number, it's a heart stance. And to 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:39.759 drive the point home, Jesus goes a little further 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:42.860 to try to explain it. So in verses 23 through 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:46.919 27, it says this. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:48.860 is like a king who wanted to settle accounts 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:52.320 with his servants. As he began the settlement, 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:56.240 a man who owed him 10 ,000 bags of gold, or 10 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.100 ,000 talents, depending on your translation, 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:01.460 was brought to him. Since he was not able to 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:04.809 pay, The master ordered that he and his wife 00:11:04.809 --> 00:11:07.529 and his children and all that he had be sold 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:11.029 to repay the debt. At this, the servant fell 00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:13.970 to his knees before him. Be patient with me, 00:11:14.049 --> 00:11:15.769 he begged, and I will pay you back everything. 00:11:16.629 --> 00:11:20.129 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled 00:11:20.129 --> 00:11:23.909 the debt, and let him go. Now, I want to give 00:11:23.909 --> 00:11:27.370 you an idea of how much this is. So 10 ,000 talents 00:11:27.370 --> 00:11:29.970 or 10 ,000 bags of gold that they had back then, 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:33.100 They estimate now that that would be in the realm 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:37.940 of $6 billion. And obviously there's no way to 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:41.379 pay that back. So as a husband and father, it 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:43.100 would be one of the darkest days of my life, 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.220 if not the darkest. I really can't think of anything 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:49.500 worse than you're going to sell off my wife and 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:55.820 my kids. It's all because of me. I would probably 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:59.000 feel like the ultimate failure as a father and 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:02.320 as a husband. And I think it's fair to say it 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:06.899 was the lowest point in this man's life. Imagine, 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.559 all this is going to happen and there's nothing 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:11.320 you can do about it. There's no way to pay it 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:15.820 back. I also think it's interesting that Peter 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:18.919 asked about forgiveness and Jesus talks about 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:23.639 money. But we can see how it relates. Because 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:28.360 we talk about debt forgiveness, forgiveness of 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:33.110 a loan. So they relate. But we're talking about 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:37.470 spiritual, emotional forgiveness that people 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:42.070 need. And there was a study done of people in 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:44.750 nursing homes. So they went and they asked them, 00:12:44.789 --> 00:12:46.269 they said, if you could live your life over, 00:12:46.509 --> 00:12:50.690 how would you live it differently? So here are 00:12:50.690 --> 00:12:53.690 people in their 80s and 90s. Their top three 00:12:53.690 --> 00:12:56.590 answers were this. Number one, they would take 00:12:56.590 --> 00:13:00.129 more walks. I love number two, they would eat 00:13:00.129 --> 00:13:03.870 more ice cream. And number three, they would 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:07.309 forgive more people. And then we're asked about 00:13:07.309 --> 00:13:10.049 that, and here are these people in their 80s 00:13:10.049 --> 00:13:13.309 and 90s that realized they were holding on to 00:13:13.309 --> 00:13:15.570 wrongs done to them way back from elementary 00:13:15.570 --> 00:13:18.590 school that a teacher or a classmate might have 00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:20.789 said to them, but they've been carrying this 00:13:20.789 --> 00:13:23.929 around their whole life. And there's so many 00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:25.730 people in our culture today that are carrying 00:13:25.730 --> 00:13:30.220 around hurts and burdens. From so long ago, there's 00:13:30.220 --> 00:13:34.600 a fact I can tell you. Hurting people hurt people. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.500 And we see it with all the hate around us. It's 00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:41.460 people carrying around hurts and then going on 00:13:41.460 --> 00:13:44.620 to hurt someone else. Now, this is an older story, 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:46.899 but I remember it well. I think it was 2006. 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:51.139 A 32 -year -old man went into an Amish school 00:13:51.139 --> 00:13:53.980 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was a one -room 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:57.080 classroom. He split the boys and girls on each 00:13:57.080 --> 00:14:00.059 side, started letting the boys go one by one, 00:14:00.179 --> 00:14:03.240 and then he started shooting the girls. He killed 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:06.879 five of them and then took his own life. And 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:09.840 I remember at the time seeing the news, every 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:11.440 news channel, the first thing they said is they 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.299 couldn't believe how quick the Amish community 00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:17.120 was to forgive. But then on one of the stations, 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:21.519 they interviewed the wife of the shooter. And 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:24.059 she said he had been hanging on to unforgiveness 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:28.279 for over a decade. And this is how it finally 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:31.860 came out. Because again, hurting people hurt 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:36.100 people. But if we look back at verses 26 and 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:39.899 27, I want to reread this. At this, the servant 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:43.200 fell on his knees before him. Be patient with 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.179 me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.039 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:55.039 the debt. and let him go. You're before the master 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:59.860 at this point. All you can do is fall to your 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:03.679 knees and beg forgiveness. And I think it's interesting 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.679 that this servant says, I'll pay back everything 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:12.559 I owe. It's six billion. I'm not sure he understood 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.720 how much he had been forgiven, but it says that 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:20.610 the master had pity or compassion on him. He 00:15:20.610 --> 00:15:23.929 released him. He didn't just defer the debt. 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:30.190 He paid it off. He canceled it. And that's exactly 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:34.350 what Jesus does for us. He sees our sins. He 00:15:34.350 --> 00:15:37.070 sees our brokenness. And he says, I want to have 00:15:37.070 --> 00:15:39.750 compassion on you. I want to release you and 00:15:39.750 --> 00:15:43.509 pay off your debt. I'm going to speak for me, 00:15:43.610 --> 00:15:46.129 but I'm probably speaking for all of you too. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:49.860 I've racked up such an extraordinary amount of 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:54.620 sin or debt that I could never pay it back. It's 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:59.179 six billion. And in Romans, it says, the wages 00:15:59.179 --> 00:16:04.639 of our sin or our debt is death. That's eternal 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:08.759 separation from God. And yet Jesus took the debt, 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:11.120 paid it off, and he says, all you have to do 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:16.769 is accept my forgiveness and believe in me. Why? 00:16:16.889 --> 00:16:20.429 Because the master, God, had compassion on us. 00:16:22.250 --> 00:16:25.649 So when you hear that, how does that make you 00:16:25.649 --> 00:16:28.210 feel? Think about all that you've been forgiven. 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:32.889 Because I would say this, that kind of love demands 00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:36.269 a response. If you're not a Christian, you're 00:16:36.269 --> 00:16:39.649 not a follower of Jesus, this is so important 00:16:39.649 --> 00:16:42.389 because you could never pay back the debt that 00:16:42.389 --> 00:16:46.360 you've accumulated. And for those of you who 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:49.779 are followers, I hope you're reminded of how 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:52.460 much you've been forgiven. That six billion should 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:55.480 ring a bell for you. But I want to go back to 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:58.480 the servant. Because if this servant really understood 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:03.220 what he'd been forgiven, how should he have felt? 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:09.460 How should he have responded? Because he responds 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:13.740 totally wrong. Look at verse 28 and 29. It says 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:17.119 this. But when the servant went out, he found 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:20.000 one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 silver 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:23.420 coins or denarii. He grabbed him and began to 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:26.519 choke him. Pay back what you owe me, he demanded. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.000 His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.960 him. Be patient with me and I will pay it back. 00:17:35.140 --> 00:17:39.380 Now, 100 denarii is a debt. They say in our day, 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.539 100 denarii would be somewhere around 11 ,000. 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:45.500 It's a significant debt. It's a significant wrong. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:50.599 But compared to the billions that he owed, it 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:54.240 is absolutely nothing. So you see this servant 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:56.319 respond the same way the first one did. He falls 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.359 to his knees and begs for forgiveness, almost 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:03.059 word for word saying the same thing. But we see 00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:05.319 this servant respond totally differently than 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:11.019 the master. Matthew 18 .30 says this, but he 00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:14.819 refused. Instead, he had the man thrown into 00:18:14.819 --> 00:18:18.099 prison until he could pay back the debt. When 00:18:18.099 --> 00:18:20.180 the other servants saw what had happened, they 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:22.380 were outraged and went and told their master 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:25.440 everything that had happened. The master called 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:28.299 the servant in. You wicked servant, he said, 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:31.619 I canceled all the debt of yours because you 00:18:31.619 --> 00:18:34.539 begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:37.930 your fellow servant just as I had on you? In 00:18:37.930 --> 00:18:40.609 anger, his master handed him over to the jailers 00:18:40.609 --> 00:18:43.410 to be tortured until he should pay back all he 00:18:43.410 --> 00:18:47.210 owed. This is how my heavenly father will treat 00:18:47.210 --> 00:18:50.269 each of you unless you forgive your brother or 00:18:50.269 --> 00:18:54.750 sister from the heart. I want to say this. The 00:18:54.750 --> 00:18:58.390 king's response is right and just. There had 00:18:58.390 --> 00:19:02.809 to be a payment. Without justice, there would 00:19:02.809 --> 00:19:06.829 be total chaos. And Jesus made the payment for 00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:11.309 us. But I think the verse that keeps popping 00:19:11.309 --> 00:19:14.329 into my head that gets my attention is 35, where 00:19:14.329 --> 00:19:17.130 it says, this is how my heavenly father will 00:19:17.130 --> 00:19:20.170 treat each of you unless you forgive each other 00:19:20.170 --> 00:19:23.329 or forgive your brother from the heart. And I 00:19:23.329 --> 00:19:26.789 know this is super hard to hear, but Jesus says 00:19:26.789 --> 00:19:28.930 this pretty much about the same thing earlier 00:19:28.930 --> 00:19:32.609 in Matthew. In Matthew 6, 14 and 15, it says 00:19:32.609 --> 00:19:35.950 this. For if you forgive other people when they 00:19:35.950 --> 00:19:38.869 sin against you, your heavenly Father will also 00:19:38.869 --> 00:19:42.609 forgive you. But if you do not forgive others 00:19:42.609 --> 00:19:45.789 their sins, your Father will not forgive your 00:19:45.789 --> 00:19:50.910 sins. Those are really tough words to hear from 00:19:50.910 --> 00:19:54.589 Jesus. I think it's fair to say that Jesus takes 00:19:54.589 --> 00:19:58.430 unforgiveness very seriously. And if you're in 00:19:58.430 --> 00:20:00.349 this room and you call yourself a believer or 00:20:00.349 --> 00:20:03.680 a follower of Jesus, It's not an option to not 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:07.720 forgive. And I believe that like the first servant, 00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:11.319 if he's sitting there and he won't forgive the 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:14.799 second servant, I wonder if he really understood 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:18.680 and embraced what he had been forgiven. And that's 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:22.480 why I would ask us today, do we understand what 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.160 we've been forgiven? Because it would respond 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.559 differently. So I heard a lot of you, I don't 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.519 know if you know Sean McDowell. He's a Christian 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:33.579 apologetics expert. And so what he does is he 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:36.019 does conferences and he defends the Bible. So 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:38.700 he was doing one in Southern Cal. He said there 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:40.559 was probably about four or five thousand people. 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:42.680 But the people who put the conference together 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:45.000 told him right before, hey, you're going to have 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.079 a lot of non -Christians tonight. And they said, 00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:49.720 in fact, one of them is an ex -youth pastor. 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:52.180 He just turned his back on the Lord about a month 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:55.660 ago and left Jesus completely. And Sean said, 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:57.599 do you know him? And he goes, yeah. He goes, 00:20:57.660 --> 00:20:59.539 do you think he'd meet with me prior? Because 00:20:59.539 --> 00:21:02.220 I'd really like to hear his story. So the guy 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:03.859 talked to him and he agreed to meet with Sean. 00:21:04.019 --> 00:21:06.700 So they met for about an hour prior to the conference. 00:21:06.859 --> 00:21:10.519 And Sean said, hey, I heard you were this youth 00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:12.299 pastor and you walked away from your faith. I 00:21:12.299 --> 00:21:14.859 just want to know your story. And instead of 00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:17.839 telling the story, the young man just said, I 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.500 just, I don't understand why God is so silent. 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.319 And I don't know why I don't see more miracles 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:25.819 and things from him. He said, all I feel is the 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:29.220 absence of God. And Sean said, at that point, 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:30.640 he's sitting there and all of a sudden, all these 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.700 names of people who could answer all these questions 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:35.460 were coming through his head. And Sean said, 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:37.440 I felt inadequate. I didn't know what to say. 00:21:38.259 --> 00:21:40.619 So he said, all I did is he said, well, can I 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:43.400 ask you a question? And the young man said, well, 00:21:43.420 --> 00:21:45.759 yeah. And he said, we can talk about you leaving 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:49.299 the faith, but can you tell me when did you come 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:53.420 to faith? When did you realize that you were 00:21:53.420 --> 00:21:56.829 a sinner in need of God's forgiveness? And he 00:21:56.829 --> 00:21:59.230 said the young man's eyes got as big as saucers. 00:21:59.250 --> 00:22:01.730 He looked like a deer in the headlights. And 00:22:01.730 --> 00:22:03.990 he said, I didn't become a Christian because 00:22:03.990 --> 00:22:07.269 I was a sinner. I became a Christian because 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:09.250 I was hurting and everyone told me Jesus would 00:22:09.250 --> 00:22:15.450 make me feel better. That's a false gospel. This 00:22:15.450 --> 00:22:18.769 kid never understood what Jesus did for him. 00:22:20.109 --> 00:22:23.490 He was never in relationship with Jesus. He never 00:22:23.490 --> 00:22:26.019 had an experience with Jesus. And Sean McDowell 00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:29.180 said at that same talk, he was like, every time 00:22:29.180 --> 00:22:30.819 I meet someone who says they walked away from 00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:33.819 the faith, he said, I would guarantee they never 00:22:33.819 --> 00:22:36.700 had a faith. He said they never understood Jesus' 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:38.460 forgiveness. He said they would say things like, 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:40.680 he said, well, when did you become a Christian? 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.079 When did you know Jesus died for your sins? Well, 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:45.740 I've just always been a Christian. Well, then 00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:48.720 you don't get it. You didn't understand or accept 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.880 the forgiveness he offers. And I think, I feel 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:53.579 the same thing about people when they say they 00:22:53.579 --> 00:22:58.589 refuse to forgive. A brother, maybe they never 00:22:58.589 --> 00:23:01.650 understood what they were forgiven. Because if 00:23:01.650 --> 00:23:04.789 you understand forgiveness, you pay that forward. 00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:08.430 We've all been forgiven an extraordinary amount 00:23:08.430 --> 00:23:09.809 of debt. And you could be sitting here thinking, 00:23:10.009 --> 00:23:13.230 well, Bob, I'm not really that bad. I have never 00:23:13.230 --> 00:23:15.269 killed anybody. I've never been to jail. I've 00:23:15.269 --> 00:23:17.789 never done drugs. I waited to have sex till I 00:23:17.789 --> 00:23:21.470 was married. I did this, this, and this. And 00:23:21.470 --> 00:23:23.190 I would say those are the people that have been 00:23:23.190 --> 00:23:26.890 forgiven the six billion that don't get it. And 00:23:26.890 --> 00:23:28.710 I would compare it to the story of the prodigal 00:23:28.710 --> 00:23:31.650 son. The younger son went off and did wild living, 00:23:31.789 --> 00:23:36.430 but the older son was full of pride. Pride is 00:23:36.430 --> 00:23:39.970 sin. He was just as lost as the younger son, 00:23:40.150 --> 00:23:43.430 but in a different way. I heard it said that 00:23:43.430 --> 00:23:45.710 pride can blind you from ever seeing your need 00:23:45.710 --> 00:23:49.190 for forgiveness. And as I'm saying all this, 00:23:49.230 --> 00:23:51.259 I don't want to diminish. the wrongs that have 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:54.180 been done to you. Some of you might have been 00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:56.940 wronged in terrible ways. And I will tell you, 00:23:56.980 --> 00:24:01.140 I've been wronged in horrible ways before. But 00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:07.380 I, in comparison to what Jesus has and continues 00:24:07.380 --> 00:24:11.900 to forgive me for, honestly, it's nothing. Because 00:24:11.900 --> 00:24:15.720 I know I could never pay back that debt. But 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:20.529 do you know that? Because forgiveness isn't easy, 00:24:20.589 --> 00:24:22.289 and I think it would be impossible for me if 00:24:22.289 --> 00:24:24.869 I didn't understand Jesus' forgiveness, and if 00:24:24.869 --> 00:24:26.569 I didn't have the power of the Holy Spirit to 00:24:26.569 --> 00:24:29.849 help me forgive others. I mentioned earlier, 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:33.509 I said hurting people hurt people, but I think 00:24:33.509 --> 00:24:37.390 the opposite is true. Forgiving people forgive 00:24:37.390 --> 00:24:42.789 people. And I've been forgiven so much, how could 00:24:42.789 --> 00:24:46.269 I not? And I would say this about it, forgiveness 00:24:46.269 --> 00:24:48.730 is very healing. I'll tell you a story. About 00:24:48.730 --> 00:24:52.490 15 years ago at Heights, we started this discipleship 00:24:52.490 --> 00:24:54.549 program called CTO. Some of you might've been 00:24:54.549 --> 00:24:56.690 here. It's called Call to Obedience. So what 00:24:56.690 --> 00:24:58.730 they would have us do as a staff is you would 00:24:58.730 --> 00:25:00.690 go with your spouse. So me and my wife went and 00:25:00.690 --> 00:25:02.089 we would meet with the people that wrote the 00:25:02.089 --> 00:25:04.190 program and they would tell us how to use it. 00:25:04.549 --> 00:25:06.930 Well, literally week one, the whole thing was 00:25:06.930 --> 00:25:08.990 about forgiveness. That's what they started with. 00:25:09.289 --> 00:25:11.009 So the lady said, hey, here's what we're gonna 00:25:11.009 --> 00:25:12.869 do, Bob. I'm gonna write down your dad's name. 00:25:13.029 --> 00:25:14.730 And so she wrote it down. She goes, now tell 00:25:14.730 --> 00:25:16.470 me every way your dad has sinned against you. 00:25:17.470 --> 00:25:19.289 And I'm like, what? And she goes, everything 00:25:19.289 --> 00:25:22.190 your dad has done to wrong you. So I'm telling 00:25:22.190 --> 00:25:23.829 her stuff. And she goes, well, okay, so now we're 00:25:23.829 --> 00:25:25.369 going to forgive your dad. I go, I've already 00:25:25.369 --> 00:25:27.589 forgiven him. She goes, no, but you just got 00:25:27.589 --> 00:25:29.390 to how we do it so you learn. So we went in the 00:25:29.390 --> 00:25:31.529 backyard. She said, would you pray over this 00:25:31.529 --> 00:25:33.170 forgiveness list? And I'm going to burn it. So 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:35.809 she started on fire. I prayed and it was over 00:25:35.809 --> 00:25:38.150 and it was great. So then the following was, 00:25:38.250 --> 00:25:39.410 she goes, okay, we're going to do something different 00:25:39.410 --> 00:25:41.549 today. We're going to make a list of how you 00:25:41.549 --> 00:25:44.529 wronged your dad. And I'm like, well, I never. 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:48.700 With a few prodding questions, I realized all 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:51.740 these things that I had done and not done to 00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:54.720 sin against my dad. So we're getting ready to 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:56.079 leave and she goes, okay, so this week you're 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:57.700 going to call your dad and ask for forgiveness. 00:25:58.910 --> 00:26:01.710 And I said, well, you don't know my dad. He's 00:26:01.710 --> 00:26:04.049 not going to like this at all. I said, this could 00:26:04.049 --> 00:26:05.970 go really south. And she kept insisting. She 00:26:05.970 --> 00:26:07.630 goes, well, you have to do it. So I kept putting 00:26:07.630 --> 00:26:09.309 it off. And each week, we'd go back for the next 00:26:09.309 --> 00:26:10.789 lesson. She goes, how did the talk go with your 00:26:10.789 --> 00:26:13.329 dad? Oh, it's just been a busy week. Haven't 00:26:13.329 --> 00:26:15.410 called him yet, but I will. So finally, I call 00:26:15.410 --> 00:26:18.630 my dad up. I say, hey, dad, I'm doing this Bible 00:26:18.630 --> 00:26:21.450 study. And I need to ask for forgiveness from 00:26:21.450 --> 00:26:24.690 some things I've done to you. And he said in 00:26:24.690 --> 00:26:26.549 some really choice words that I'm not going to 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:29.440 use. why I don't need to do that and why I don't 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:31.720 need to forgive him. So I said, well, I really 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:34.259 don't have a choice. So I start telling him all 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:37.420 the things I was asking forgiveness for. And 00:26:37.420 --> 00:26:40.420 the phone's dead, blank. And I'm like, I got 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:42.059 something new to add to his list now because 00:26:42.059 --> 00:26:45.259 he just hung up on me. And then I realized my 00:26:45.259 --> 00:26:51.519 dad's crying. And my dad is not like that. And 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.660 all he says to me is he said, you never had to 00:26:53.660 --> 00:26:58.079 ask. I will tell you this about that relationship. 00:26:58.180 --> 00:27:00.700 Now, prior to that conversation, I would say 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:03.960 I talked to my dad maybe once every two or three 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:07.319 months. I talked to my dad every day, almost. 00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:08.960 Every week I'm on the phone with him at least 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:10.720 once. In fact, I just talked to him this morning. 00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:17.220 Because forgiveness is so healing. And I'll say 00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:20.480 some of you, probably it might be the day that 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:24.000 you need to forgive yourself. We recently put 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.700 together a Bible study here, a one -on -one discipleship 00:27:26.700 --> 00:27:29.539 called Follow. And one of the questions in there 00:27:29.539 --> 00:27:33.859 is, is it easier to forgive yourself or others? 00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:37.220 Everyone I've asked that question to, it's been 00:27:37.220 --> 00:27:42.059 100 % harder to forgive yourself. And I'd say 00:27:42.059 --> 00:27:47.500 this about that. If God has forgiven you, who 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:51.410 are you to remember it anymore? Because if you're 00:27:51.410 --> 00:27:54.690 in Christ, you're a new creation. The old things 00:27:54.690 --> 00:27:58.130 have died and passed away. So why are you hanging 00:27:58.130 --> 00:28:00.089 around the cemetery trying to dig those things 00:28:00.089 --> 00:28:05.970 back up? And even today, we battle sin and sometimes 00:28:05.970 --> 00:28:10.869 we lose, but that debt's been paid too. So maybe 00:28:10.869 --> 00:28:12.829 today is the day that you just need to forgive 00:28:12.829 --> 00:28:16.950 yourself to move forward. If you don't forgive 00:28:16.950 --> 00:28:19.980 yourself, Again, I'll say maybe you don't understand 00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:24.039 God's forgiveness. But as we're talking about 00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:25.759 forgiveness, I want to tell you a few things 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:29.960 that forgiveness isn't. Forgiveness isn't a feeling. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:32.640 Because as we're sitting here, I'm sure some 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:34.319 names are popping in your head that you need 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:36.079 to forgive, and you're sitting there going, well, 00:28:36.099 --> 00:28:39.400 I don't feel like forgiving them. You're probably 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:43.599 never going to feel like forgiving them. Forgiveness 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:47.279 is done out of obedience, not a feeling. But 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:50.619 I will tell you from personal experience, once 00:28:50.619 --> 00:28:52.779 I've done it out of obedience, the feeling usually 00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:57.799 follows. And forgiveness is not forgetting or 00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:00.599 ignoring the wrong that was done to you. It's 00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:04.019 not letting someone off the hook. The wrong that 00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:07.519 was done to you was real. I don't think we need 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:09.579 to make excuses for those people either and say 00:29:09.579 --> 00:29:12.519 things like, well, we all mess up and they didn't 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:17.759 mean it. Again, what they did was real. And we 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:20.539 can't forget it. So sometimes triggers will happen 00:29:20.539 --> 00:29:23.079 where that wrong comes back up, and you've got 00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:26.759 to pray that again and give forgiveness. And 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:29.420 forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation. 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.579 Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:40.640 Forgiveness is a choice to release a hurt. Reconciliation 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.640 is restoring a relationship. Forgiveness can 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:47.109 be granted. without restoring the relationship, 00:29:47.410 --> 00:29:49.289 because sometimes it's harmful to step back into 00:29:49.289 --> 00:29:54.609 that. So I want to do something special. I think 00:29:54.609 --> 00:29:57.710 a lot of times we're in church, and I feel like 00:29:57.710 --> 00:29:59.430 we're supposed to respond to God's Word every 00:29:59.430 --> 00:30:04.470 time we're in here. God's Word is so important, 00:30:04.569 --> 00:30:07.329 and we hear that, and if nothing changes, it's 00:30:07.329 --> 00:30:11.029 like faith without works is dead. So some of 00:30:11.029 --> 00:30:13.589 you are sitting in here today, and you know Holy 00:30:13.589 --> 00:30:16.839 Spirit's prodding you on a few things. We want 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:19.279 to give you a chance and the opportunity to respond 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:21.779 to that. And I will say this, there's probably 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:23.420 a couple things that are touching your heart. 00:30:24.299 --> 00:30:28.680 Number one, maybe you never realized the six 00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:34.460 billion that you owe. And maybe today is the 00:30:34.460 --> 00:30:37.440 day that you're sitting here saying, I want to 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.779 accept the payoff of my debt. I want to step 00:30:40.779 --> 00:30:45.210 into relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe you're 00:30:45.210 --> 00:30:48.650 sitting here today and these people that are 00:30:48.650 --> 00:30:50.150 coming to your head that you think you can't 00:30:50.150 --> 00:30:53.089 forgive, but you're a Christian, you're a believer, 00:30:53.269 --> 00:30:57.369 but you don't know how to release that and you 00:30:57.369 --> 00:31:00.569 don't know how to let go of those hurts. So here's 00:31:00.569 --> 00:31:02.250 what I would love to do. We're gonna have the 00:31:02.250 --> 00:31:05.990 band come back up and they're gonna play a song, 00:31:06.029 --> 00:31:08.470 but we're gonna be down in front. I'm gonna come 00:31:08.470 --> 00:31:09.730 down there. We're gonna have some of the prayer 00:31:09.730 --> 00:31:13.430 team down there, but I will tell you, if you 00:31:13.430 --> 00:31:16.799 feel, God is talking to you right now to respond. 00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:21.079 Please don't miss an opportunity. Don't leave 00:31:21.079 --> 00:31:25.099 here saying, I should have. Do what he's asking 00:31:25.099 --> 00:31:32.640 you to do. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, Father, 00:31:32.779 --> 00:31:34.460 first of all, I just thank you for your forgiveness. 00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:39.160 Thank you for paying a debt that we could have 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:42.900 never paid, Father. We love you. And Father, 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:46.140 I pray, For people out here today that are realizing 00:31:46.140 --> 00:31:49.619 the debt that was paid, understanding your love 00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:53.180 and your forgiveness, Father, I pray that you 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:56.559 would give them courage and boldness to come 00:31:56.559 --> 00:31:58.619 forward and tell someone that the decision they've 00:31:58.619 --> 00:32:01.539 made, Father, so you can use others to help on 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:04.480 that walk, Father. We're a family. We want to 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:07.680 walk this together. And Father, I pray for those 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:10.940 that are struggling, Christian brothers that 00:32:10.940 --> 00:32:15.680 are struggling to let go. of hurts, of burdens 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:18.960 and wrongs, Lord. I pray today would be the day 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:21.200 they release that, Father. And again, for them, 00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:25.019 I pray courage and boldness, Father, that they 00:32:25.019 --> 00:32:27.880 would be able to come forward, talk and pray 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:31.400 this through, Lord. Father, we love you so much 00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:34.539 and thank you so much for the opportunity to 00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:37.339 respond to your word. In Jesus' name.