Don't Take the Bait | Again | Online Weekend Experience

[Music] [Applause] [Music] well hey valley creek online my name is justin and i am so glad that you're joining us today whether you're here for the first time or you're with us each and every week we just want to say welcome jesus is here and he has something that he wants to speak to you today and we've been in a series called again and maybe today it's time to engage again so come on wherever you're watching hop on the chat let us know where that is and let us know who you're watching with but let's use that chat today to build one another's faith and this tuesday we're having tuesday night prayer tuesday night prayer is where we get to lift up the name of jesus as one church in prayer together so hey if you're not able to attend in person we're gonna have an amazing online experience for you right here at 7 pm this tuesday so we cannot wait to see you there for that well scripture tells us give thanks to the lord for he is good and his love endures forever so i don't know what you're coming in with today but in jesus name can we give thanks to god because his love endures forever all right valley creek come on let's stand let's put our hands together whether you're online or you're working at one of our campuses let's respond to [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i jesus find what i was looking for but every time i was chasing shadows but all i found was another two [Music] was a resurrection [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] my resurrection life my resurrection [Music] [Music] [Music] oh jesus jesus [Applause] [Music] jesus my resurrection [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] my resurrection [Music] come on this is who he is when i saw the ruins you saw the glory when i saw the pieces you knew the story oh this is revival this is and you took my past and you gave second chances oh this is a revival this is the old man right here now [Music] this is revival this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] my resurrection [Applause] this is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] this is revival right here and now what you're doing lord you're coming and making all things new and you're giving us your grace and your mercy and so we turn our hearts to you lord and we lift you up and my heart starts to sing of your grace and your mercy and your goodness [Music] over and over [Music] through the days and the seasons all creation will praise so i'll bow in your presence your greatness [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] who i will proclaim [Music] [Applause] [Music] i will [Music] with all my [Music] i will [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] all the glory [Music] [Music] [Music] i will lift up your name [Music] with every breath [Music] i'll pour out my praise [Music] in this moment the breath you're breathing it's the grace of jesus it's his tangible grace that he is with you right now every single breath freely given and available at every moment no matter where you are every breath is his grace [Music] so right now as we're worshiping and we're lifting up the name of jesus i just want to invite you would you just take a breath would you just breathe in the grace of jesus his burden is easy and light and it may feel like you haven't been able to take a breath for a long time right now jesus is saying breathe breathe in my grace whatever it is you're facing wherever you are it's more than enough it's more than enough for what you need is [Music] than enough jesus you're more than in love you're more than enough you're more than i'm enough saying that together you're more than enough you're more than enough you're more than enough for me you are you're more than enough you're more than enough you're more than enough for me jesus and with every breath i'll worship your name with all my heart and all the my strength i'll lift up lift i will lift up your name i will lift up [Music] [Music] walking around [Music] but you have never failed me [Music] knowing the bottles [Music] that's true that's who he is that's what he's done [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] you've never failed even when we can't [Music] see [Music] come on so loud let's just respond to his grace for us today say this jesus again oh we choose to praise you cause your promise is [Music] this is [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh you've never failed oh cause that's not who you [Music] [Applause] are come on this is truth this is who jesus is no matter what's going on in life this is who he is [Applause] [Music] you made [Applause] is where there was no way me i believe i'll see you doing again [Music] your promise still still great is your faithfulness faithfulness i'm still in your head this is my confidence you've never seen that again but remind your heart of this truth that his promise still stays great is your faithfulness faithfulness and i'm still in your head so this is my confidence [Music] [Music] you won't stop now jesus you are faithful always all the time and your faithfulness is not circumstantial it's not dependent on what's going on in life or what season we're in but your faithfulness is constant because that is who you are and you show us your faithfulness and that is your grace for us so thank you jesus for your faithfulness for the fact that you stand by our side no matter what so this is our confidence that you've never failed me yet and you're not going to start doing that today so let that sink down in our hearts we love you jesus thank you for this truth and for this promise you are faithful always so we give you praise in your name everybody said amen well hey i am so glad that you are at valley creek today go ahead find your seat settle in as we continue through our time together all right hey everybody welcome to valley creek whether you are at one of our campuses or online i am so glad you are here with us today and we are in a series called again we said that in jesus name it's time to breathe again believe again and begin again because if we're honest last year kind of took the wind out of our sails and there's a whole lot of important and significant and foundational things that we just kind of stopped doing and it doesn't really matter why we stopped doing them what matters is what are we going to do about it now because there are some habits and some patterns some behavior some beliefs that i would bet that you picked up this year that aren't really all that good for you so in jesus name it's time to start again in fact there's a whole lot of things that jesus himself is inviting encouraging and even commanding us to start doing again and our hope in this series is that it's going to give you some momentum back in your life some movement where you can start breathing believing and beginning again in jesus name you see one day jesus and his disciples were talking in luke chapter 17 and he's having a conversation with them and he says it is impossible that no offenses should come he says in other words guys you're going to get offended in life so watch yourselves if your brother sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back to you and says i repent forgive him the apostle said to the lord increase our faith okay i love this jesus is sitting with the disciples and he says hey guys you're going to get offended i don't care who you are offenses are going to come in your life you're going to get hurt you're going to get wounded you're going to get disappointed people are going to sin against you so watch yourself because it's a really big deal when it happens and he says no matter what they do no matter how many times it happens up to seven times in a day you need to forgive seven times in a day seven is the number of completion so what jesus is saying is you need to abundantly lavishly completely generously forgive them no matter how many times no matter what they do and the disciples response to that is increase our faith and they are exactly right because it takes faith to forgive it takes faith to receive forgiveness and it takes faith to extend forgiveness you see what we have to remember is that forgiveness is not logical it's not cognitive it's not something we understand it doesn't make sense in fact it's illogical to cancel a debt that somebody else owes against you without having them pay for it forgiveness is supernatural it comes from the kingdom of god within you it comes from the spirit of god within you it comes from the grace that jesus has given you and remember god's wisdom is foolishness to man so it doesn't make sense in the world which is why it requires faith in fact this is why jesus's main message repent for the kingdom of heaven is it and what he's saying is he's saying change your mind and stop looking at everything through the lens of this world and start looking at everything through the lens of the kingdom stop allowing the inferior realities of this world to dictate your life and allow the superior realities of the kingdom of god to influence your life things like grace mercy forgiveness and freedom you see i think it's fascinating that jesus says it's impossible that no offenses should come we needed to have read that verse at the beginning of 2020 because let's be honest last year was a year of offense oh come on last year we got more offended than maybe over the last 10 years combined like we were offended at everything we were offended at the government we were offended at the economy we were offended at education in schools we were offended at the media we were offended at our boss and our neighbors at our jobs and our friends we were offended at our church we were offended when people sneezed literally offended at people when they sneezed we were offended all over the place and you say what is an offense big word we're not always sure what to do with it an offense is unforgiveness that demands judgment if you're taking notes i want you to write this down an offense is unforgiveness that demands judgment it's an unforgiveness that says there needs to be a judgment based on what you have done i need to see justice there's a vengeance there's a hostility there's an anger there's an edge it's an unforgiveness that demands seeing some kind of justice come into your life for what you did to me and you can be offended for a thousand reasons you can be offended because somebody hurt you because they wounded you because they sinned against you you can be offended based on what somebody said or what somebody did you can be offended because you didn't have all the information or because you don't understand a decision that was made you can be offended because you perceive somebody else's life as better than yours ready for this you can be offended by truth either spoken or lived out of someone else's life truth meaning they're doing or saying the right thing and you can still be offended by it why because it exposes and reveals brokenness in you so now i'm offended at you and now i need some judgment and some justice to come into your life come on we were offended last year and as i've been thinking about this and praying about it you know what it really you know what it says to me if we are that offended it says to me that we've lost sight of the grace of god so it's time to forgive again you see you will always treat other people the way you believe god treats you so if you believe god is offended at you you will be offended at everyone else but if you really believe that jesus has forgiven you then you can't help but forgive forgiveness to everyone else around you and so if we're living in a fence it means we've lost sight of the grace of god in fact matthew 10 8 jesus says freely you have received freely give in other words you can only give that which you have first received and so if i'm freely receiving forgiveness then i have forgiveness to give but if i'm not receiving anything i don't have anything to give and so in jesus name it's time to forgive again but before we can forgive again we have to receive forgiveness again because maybe you didn't crush coronavirus season maybe you said some things and did some things and acted in some ways and went some places and and had some attitudes that that maybe you're ashamed of maybe they were broken maybe you know they're wrong okay in jesus name it's time to receive some forgiveness again in fact let these verses build your faith but god demonstrates his love for us in this while we were still sinners christ died for us in other words you know what that means that means when we were at our worst when we were enemies with god when we were hostile with him when we were offended at god he still chose to love us and come lay down his life for us go to the next one father forgive them for they know not what they do you know what that means that means when jesus was on the cross and he had nails in his hands and in his feet and a crown of thorns on his head for your sins your failures your brokenness he looked out at you and said father forgive him father forgive her for they know not what they do or how about the next one he does not treat us as our sins deserve or pay us a recording to our iniquities in other words we don't get what we deserve jesus got what we deserved so we could get what he deserved as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us you know what that means that your sins aren't just covered they are cleansed in jesus name completely removed once and for all fully forgiven one more for i will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more not only has he forgiven you he has chosen to completely forget all of the brokenness and the failures of your life the sins you can't seem to forget are the ones in jesus he can't seem to remember so the question is have you forgotten have you forgotten that you are the righteousness of god in christ jesus have you forgotten that you're a new creation have you forgotten that god is not offended at you the only one who has the right to be offended at you is the only one who isn't it's time to receive forgiveness again so we can release forgiveness again you see do you remember the story of cain and abel adam and eve's two sons and they both present an offering to the lord and god accepts abel's offering because he does it right and he rejects cain's offering because he does it wrong so cain is offended at his brother abel not because abel did something wrong but because he did something right so cain is offended by that and cain's offended at god because god didn't accept cain's broken offering and so god realizes that cain is offended and he says to cain he says hey cain you're offended and you got to deal with this offense with this unforgiveness in your life because if you don't it's going to lead to a whole lot of other brokenness in genesis chapter 4 god says to cain he says sin is crouching at your door it desires to have you but you must master it i love this verse what god is saying is he's saying cain you're offended and offense is a gateway sin sin is literally crouching at your door this language literally references like a wild and savage animal that's at your door and what he's saying is if you hold on to that offense it's a gateway sin that's going to open up the door to all kinds of other sin and death and darkness and destruction and it's going to come in and it's going to ravage your life so let's deal with this offense right now cain and what happens cain doesn't deal with the offense he opens up the door sin comes rushing into his life and he goes out and he kills his brother abel he murders him and i tell you that story to try to paint the picture for what offense really does and what it really leads to it's a gateway sin it always leads to death darkness and destruction and i know some of you are sitting here and you're like yeah but i'm offended but i'm not gonna go kill that person okay you might not try to physically kill them but let's be honest we try to kill their reputation we try to we try to kill their character through slander we try to kill their energy through our drama we do all kinds of gossip and slander and negativity and and dysfunction to try to go ahead and take life why because offense is an unforgiveness that demands judgment it demands justice the spirit of offense wants to see death in some way shape or form and this is the cancel culture the whole canceled culture is what i'm offended i'm offended at something you did you said or that you stand for so i have an unforgiveness that demands judgment or justice and i will do whatever i can to see death darkness destruction come into your life come on this is the pharisees and jesus it always says that the pharisees were offended at jesus so what did they always talk about killing him because the spirit offense demands judgment it wants to see death in some way shape or form are you with me on that the spirit offense wants to kill that's why it's a gateway sin that's why it's a rabid rabid ravaging animal that's at the door that we can't let in to our life no matter what and here's what a lot of us say we don't we don't use the word offense like in our common vocabulary so so it kind of makes us a little uncomfortable and we're not really sure about it so we kind of leave it to the side and here's what we say we say oh i'm not offended i'm just hurt and wounded you ever hear anybody say that like oh you're offended at that i'm not offended that just they hurt me they wounded me here's the problem with that if i never take ownership or authority to acknowledge that i'm offended and i say i'm hurt or i'm wounded when i start telling other people i'm hurt or wounded by you they will then rally to my cause because we all love an underdog and now we think you have the responsibility or you need to take the ownership to make it right because you hurt me and now i get all them on my side and now they're all upset as well because they think you hurt me so you need to take the responsibility and the ownership to make it right but the moment i say i'm offended now i have the responsibility and the ownership because i've allowed something into my heart it's a whole lot harder to rally people to your cause when you say you're offended right and if you're really hurt and wounded then what are you actually looking for healing with a healthy person in private saying will you help me heal this hurt or this wound what is an offense looking for judgment and justice so you know if you're really hurt or wounded or if you're offended by the very outcome that you're looking for are you with me on this we don't want to acknowledge that we're offended because that means we have to take the responsibility we have to take the ownership we'd rather say we're hurt or wounded so you have to take the responsibility so you have to take the ownership and at the end of the day i still want the canceled culture to come into your life and i still want to take your life your reputation your character your energy in some way shape or form because that's what the spirit of offense is about are you with me on this you see an offended christian is a paradox because what you're saying is that the grace of jesus is for you but judgment is for them what you're saying is all those verses that we just read are good enough for your sins but they're not good enough for their sins and an offended world needs a forgiving church how are we going to go reconcile the world to god if we walk around demanding judgment and justice from one another hear me we cannot participate in the cancel culture it's demonic it's dark it's wrong jesus was canceled on the cross so no one else ever has to be he didn't need to go around canceling everybody because he said i'm gonna go and get canceled for everyone who will have faith to receive that which i have done we got to change our mind on this and if you ever want to believe again and breathe again and begin again you got to deal with the offenses that you picked up in 2020. and we got to start calling them what they are they're an offense it's not just a hurdle i'm just telling you hear me if you're hurt or wounded you're going to find a trusted person in private and seek healing because you're hurt if you're offended you're looking for an audience the spirit of offense always demands an audience it always wants a platform and it always wants to cascade that darkness into everyone else's life come on we got to take authority over and we got to start acknowledging what it is let me give you a couple things of what offenses actually are offenses keep you trapped in the past there there's not really anybody i know that wants to keep reliving 2020. so if you want to get out of 2020 if you even feel like the first month of 2021 feels like 2020 you got to deal with your offenses because they keep you trapped in the past isaiah 43 forget the former things do not dwell on the past see i'm doing a new thing now it springs up do you not perceive it what he's saying is i'm doing a new thing and the reason you can't see what i'm doing is because you're dwelling on the past isn't that what an offense is an offense is wasting your future because you're spending the present trying to get justice and judgment for the past and it keeps you trapped come on you can't dream with offenses in your heart you can't have a vision with offenses in your heart you will have no movement or momentum or life with offenses in your heart god is saying come on i've already paid for that thing i know it was a big deal i know it hurt you i know you didn't like it but i've paid for it let's heal up and let's move on come on in matthew chapter 18 jesus tells a famous parable story and he says the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle the accounts in his kingdom that sure sounds like jesus doesn't it jesus the king wants to settle all outstanding debts in his kingdom and so one by one the king starts calling people in and he calls in the first guy and this guy owes him so much money it's an unpayable debt he could work a hundred lifetimes and he would never be able to pay it back and he hits his knees and he begs for forgiveness and the king looks at him and he says basically i forgive you cancel the debt the man's debt is canceled it's taken off the ledger it's not even in the books anymore paid in full done over completely ripped out and the man leaves and as he walks down the street he bumps into a guy who owes him a few hundred bucks and he says hey you need to give me back what you owe me and the man does the same thing that this guy just did he hits his knees i'm so sorry sir i don't have it right now but you give me time i can pay it back will you please forgive me and the guy looks at him and he says absolutely not and he calls the jailers and has the man thrown in jail and it says while all this happens the king's servants watch it and they see it all and it says the king's servants were distressed this guy totally lost sight of the grace of god in his own life and now he is demanding judgment and justice for others and it distressed the king's servants pause with me here for a second i think it's so fascinating we think when we're offended we're the only ones that it impacts and we don't realize that when you walk around with the spirit of a fence in your life and strap like dropping a giant rock in the water the ripple effects are massive and impact everyone and everything around you the king's servants should be doing the king's business they should be advancing the kingdom and extending the rule and reign of the kingdom and proclaiming the greatness of the king instead they're now swept up in this guy's spirit of offense and they're distressed it's taken energy and effort and momentum and and and and time and and the motion all this it just sucks it right out of these guys can i just tell you you can hear the passion in me the number one thing that stops the kingdom from advancing is the people of god walking around with the spirit of offense and then all the other people of god getting distressed by it getting exhausted overwhelmed it's like bro deal with that thing so we don't have to because we should be about the king's business not this darkness you're carrying around in your heart so they go back and they tell the king more wasted time now the king has to call the man back in again more wasted time and he says man i canceled all that dad of yours shouldn't you have had mercy and grace on this other guy who just owes you a few bucks you wicked man wicked he uses the word wicked offenses are wicked we got to start calling them what they are and he says now throw that man in jail and he throws him in jail and he says he needs to stay there until he pays back all he owes what does he owe not that initial debt was already forgiven wiped off the ledger it's gone couldn't be reinstated even if he wanted to he owes forgiveness he will stay trapped in the past until he forgives that guy who owes him a few hundred bucks you will stay trapped in the past until you figure out how to forgive and let go of some of those offenses that you've been carrying around in your heart second thing is this offense is hard in your heart like all sin it's not just a a a darkness it literally hardens your heart look at this next verse an offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city an offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city think about what a fortified city is a fortified city is a city with these giant walls around it and what this is telling us is that when we get offended we build these giant walls around our lives as attempts to protect ourselves we feel offended we feel violated we feel impacted we feel hurt wounded you can put whatever word you want to it so we build these walls to keep the pain out the only problem is you just walled the darkness in and so if i've got these big walls around my life guess what like a big city if you can't go out or you can't come in over time you will starve to death you won't have food you won't have water and your soul will shrivel up and die if the pain can't get in then you know what else can't get in love and healing and peace and joy come on we're not supposed to be a fortified city we're not supposed to build these big walls around our lives so we become immovable we're supposed to be on a journey with jesus walking the narrow road one next step at a time on a journey with him that's why hebrews tells us to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us not let us build a giant fortified city around our heart because we've been offended by what someone else has did or said in fact the word offense in the original language you know what it means it means stumbling block an offense is a stumbling block to your life not everyone else's life your life you stumble you trip you fall in fact another part of what that word actually means in the original language is it means like the trigger of a trap think of a mouse trap the actual trigger and you see something and it's a bait and the little animal comes in and it looks good and what happens when it takes it wham so an offense is a trap it looks good it looks right sometimes it even looks holy pharisees and we go in and we take the bait and we become trapped with this sense of immobility and we can't move forward into the future that god has for us come on check out these next two verses love is not easily irritated or quick to take an offense we should be quick to love and slow to be offended and if there's a lot of offense in my life it's because there's not a lot of love but if there's a lot of love there won't be a lot of offense in fact if you even think when jesus says he who's been forgiven much loves much if i'm offended it's because there's not love and if there's not love it's because i've forgotten how much i've been forgiven what i keep trying to draw your attention back to is if you are offended you've forgotten that god is not offended at you in jesus name or how about this next one that says there is such a great peace and well-being that comes to the lovers of your word they will never be offended wow lovers of the word of god will never be offended why because most of the time when we're offended it's about our emotions our feelings our perspectives our opinions our rights it's about me but if i love god's word that means that i'm looking at the world through truth not through feelings and emotions and so i won't get offended why because i'm focused on the story of grace so i don't have to pick up the spirit of offense come on offenses harden your heart and the last one is this offenses are from the kingdom of darkness i don't know how to say it to you any stronger than that offenses are from the kingdom of darkness jesus tells us pray father your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven are there any offenses in heaven genuinely think about it are there any offenses in heaven no and we're supposed to invite the kingdom of god into our life which means offenses come from the kingdom of darkness i mean think about it satan was the first offended one he was offended at god he was offended at god's kingdom he was offended at god's ways that's the whole thing it started with the spirit of offense in fact look at this verse for the accuser of our brother satan who accuses them before our god night and day that's the spirit of offense he's an accuser he wants to point out everything you do that's wrong everything that could possibly be off in your life he's an accuser he's offended we're not supposed to carry that spirit look at the next verse we're supposed to carry this spirit but i tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your father in heaven so my question for you is is which spirit are you carrying the spirit of offense or the spirit of forgiveness because you will carry the spirit of whichever kingdom you are the most influenced by so if i'm carrying the spirit of offense it means i'm more influenced by the kingdom of darkness than by the kingdom of god come on in it interesting how offenses find offenses because it's a spirit that attracts itself in the supernatural realm you have to ask yourself the question sometimes how does a mom who is offended at the school find a dad in the parking lot who is offended at his boss how does a student who's offended at his friend and another student who's offended at his teacher find each other at lunch how does a person who is offended at the government find somebody else who is offended at the media i don't know i'm doing the just trying to make sure you're still with me it's a spirit that attracts another spirit so if you constantly find offended people coming to you that says that there's probably an open spirit of offense in your life that's attracting and drawing it in because a lot of us will sit here in this message and be like man i sure wish joe was here today he really needed this message the moment you think that you're already leaning on the wrong side of the equation i need this message i need this message why because it's so easy to be offended and you say so so what do we do well i'll just give you this real quick focus go to the next one focus on god's grace for you the question is is are you more focused on the faults of man or the forgiveness of god do you spend more time here's a great question for you do you spend more time talking about what they did to you or what jesus has done for you that's all we need to know that will tell me everything about the current reality of your life more time on what they did what the government did what the school did what your boss did what that person did what the church did you what they did to me or what jesus has done for me because when i spend time focusing on god's grace for me i don't have time to really care all that much about your faults and your failures in fact i've got a lot of grace and mercy and compassion because i know that's what he's done for me pray for them because it's really hard to be offended at somebody when you're praying to god for them and then bless them actually go beyond just just like praying for bless them what do you say what does that mean it means write them a card use your social media to promote them do something that costs you something jesus didn't just cancel your debt he credited your account so if we really want to get that offense out of there sometimes you just got to do something that blesses them in jesus name in fact this is why ephesians 4 32 be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as in christ god forgave you there it is again when you're focused on god's forgiveness for you and how much he forgave you you can't help but forgive them and you will forgive other people to the level you believe god has forgiven you so if you don't really forgive all that much you forgive grudgingly sparingly tightly it's because you believe that's how god forgave you let me try to pull it all together with this in john chapter 8 there's a great story of a woman caught in adultery she's literally caught red-handed and the pharisees the religious people they are offended they are offended at her and that unforgiveness is demanding judgment and justice so they take her and they bring her to jesus and they throw her on the ground in front of jesus and they pick up stones and they hold the stones and they say jesus the law says we should stone her we're a fed the whole community is offended at her the law says we should take judgment and justice what do you say jesus and he looks at him and he says he who is without sin let him throw the first stone and one by one they drop their stones and they'll leave why because what jesus is saying is he's saying have you forgot have you forgot the grace of god in your life because you should be the one on the ground and we should be picking up stones to take you out have you forgot and they all leave and jesus the only one who could have thrown a stone is the only one who doesn't pick one up and he helps the woman up and he says is there no one left to condemn you she says no and sir then neither do i condemn you now go and sin no more here's my question do you think tomorrow when she wakes up she's going to pick up the rock of a offense towards her kid's school do you think the next day she is going to be offended at her government do you think the next day she's really going to be offended at her church or her job or her family or her community no way why because she is desperately connected to the grace of god in her life so all she has to offer the world is grace come on jesus flat out tells us offenses are gonna come so watch yourself don't take the bait don't stumble don't get trapped in the past don't have a hard heart don't align yourself or partner with darkness no matter what they do no matter how many times they do it abundantly completely generously forgive and that requires faith just like it requires faith to really believe that jesus has forgiven you it requires faith to actually forgive them come on it's time to break the spirit of offense right out of our life say i'm done i'm done with that darkness i'm done with a spirit of unforgiveness that demands judgment and justice i have no interest in my gossip killing this reputation and my slander killing this character and my drama killing their energy no no no jesus was already killed on my behalf and on their behalf so the judgment and the justice has already been paid in full so close your eyes with me and let's just just take a moment with me let's just forgive again like right now like like like like if you're online don't turn it off and if you're in the room don't get up and leave like come on who are you offended at what are you offended where is there a level of unforgiveness that's demanding judgment or justice that wants to kill that has gossip and slander and hatred that wants to shame and punish and seek consequence holy spirit we just invite you into this moment come and show us come and show us even just one lord that today we could leave just that much freer and then right now let it go pray for them bless them if you you're like i can't lord bless so-and-so that's it that's a step in the right direction god i pray today for so and so not that you would show them their faults and their wrongs no god i pray for kindness and compassion in their life come on you can feel it our hearts got so hard last year from all those offenses the fortified city is not a way to live we're we're suffocating you're walling the darkness in and jesus is inviting you to lay those walls down so that his love and his healing and his goodness and his grace can get in there come on this today this moment you want to believe again you want to breathe again you want to begin again it's this right here it's flowing in grace it's receiving it and releasing it you won't get past this you won't get going again in 2021 with the spirit of offense active and alive in your heart and last year was more active than the last 10 years combined this is it and it all starts by receiving his grace for you so maybe right now can you even just in your own way feel the fresh grace of jesus pouring over your life can you hear the holy spirit whispering in your ear that because of jesus god is not offended at you he has forgiven you and he was judged and justice was served he got what you deserved so now you could live free and what he deserves and as we get that in our heart and in our spirit we can't help but release that into the world around us so jesus holy spirit would you dislodge the spirit of offense in our life and help us close the door on this gateway sin and keep that ravaged animal out of our lives help us right now to take some ownership and some authority and some responsibility and move past i'm hurt and wounded to i'm offended but it's not okay to be offended in jesus name so help me lord heal my hurts and my wounds and help me move in the spirit of forgiveness thank you jesus for your goodness and your grace come on grab it it's the last thing grab it grab his grace for you completely abundantly fully no matter how many times he has forgiven you may that be the focal point of your life in jesus name we pray amen so come on valley creek let's receive the forgiveness that jesus offers us so that we can release it to those around us we really are so glad that you joined us today hey if you want to give you can do so at any time on valleycreek.org we believe that giving is a response to the goodness of god in our lives and we can't wait to see you guys at tuesday night prayer this tuesday at 7 00 pm but as you guys go this week would you go knowing that god is good that jesus has forgiven you that you are loved and that everything is possible we'll see you guys soon [Music] you

Channel: Valley Creek Church

Views: 5,925

Rating: 4.826087 out of 5

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Id: OHcGPG_Htfs

Length: 71min 45sec (4305 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 31 2021