October 13, 2019 "An Anatomy of Forgiveness", Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

I know people who watch this and cried and said that's what Christ wants from us the judge was crying on the other hand there are those who say this is a shame another example of black people forgiving too easily and to quickly I have a preacher friend who called this post traumatic slave disorder that this is what slavery does to you on the one hand the epitome of Christianity on the other hand post traumatic slave disorder and if you're like me and you'll be honest you were probably somewhere in the middle and your response was you better than me don't you pray with me God for every mountain and for every valley we thank you God and for that we bless your name [Applause] God you have more than earned the devotion of our heart and you more than deserve the praise of our lips thank you Lord for preserving our lives and the lives of those we love it could have gone another way what I asking you would speak now guide and govern my speaking and our hearing speak Lord for your servants are listening in the name of Jesus we do pray amen during this month of October as you've seen our theme is growing in truth the desire we have as a ministerial team is to guide us not only in sermon but also in Bible study around some of the doctrinal truths of Christianity it spends some time reviewing those areas where there has been some historic as well as some contemporary division among Christians and what we proclaim and what we believe I want to be clear that the goal of this month is not to further those divisions the goal is not to make some conclusion about who's right and who's wrong the goal is not to make you think what I think I've often reminded you that at Alpha Street my job is not to make you think what I think my job is to make sure you're thinking but rather the goal is to share how some of these areas of belief are critical for how we live our daily lives to help you come to an understanding of what you believe understand why others believe differently and learn to respect our difference without becoming divisive last week we began this journey looking at the different ways Christians practice communion realizing that the unity is found in the message of communion which remind us that no matter how we take it no matter how often we receive it we are all sinners who are saved by grace alone today I'm asking for your prayers and the guidance of the Holy Spirit I want to launch out into some dangerous and difficult waters as we look at the different Christian perspectives on forgiveness I'm gonna ask you to turn with me in your Bibles to the last chapter of the book of Genesis Genesis chapter 52 here a reading of the word of God from the New King James Version of the Bible Genesis chapter 50 and it is my prayer that no one on your pew has any difficulty locating the book of Genesis Genesis chapter 15 beginning in verse number 15 listen for the word of the Lord when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him so they sent messengers to Joseph saying look before your father died he commanded us saying thus associated Joseph I beg you please forgive the trespasses of your brothers and their sin for they did evil to you now please forgive the trespass of the servants of the god of your father and Joseph wept when they spoke to him then his brothers also went and fell down before his face and they said Behold we are your servants Joseph said to them do not be afraid for am I in the place of God but as for you you meant evil against me but God but God [Applause] that's your Bible that's a good place to underline but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive now therefore do not be afraid I will provide for you and your little ones and he comforted them and spoke kindly to them today I want to teach and talk about an anatomy of forgiveness you may be seated in the presence of the Lord an anatomy of forgiveness on September 6 2018 Dallas police officer Amber Geiger after coming off her shift claims she was so exhausted that she didn't realize she was trying to enter apartment 14 78 although she lived in apartment 1378 we don't know how she gained entrance because Kevin her story changed three times first the door was locked second the door was unlocked and third the door was ajar don't know how she got in but we know what happened when she did well she entered apartment 14 78 although she lived in apartment 1378 she encountered 26-year old both him Sean Shem John black man innocent no criminal record leader of praise and worship at his church who was sitting unarmed in his boxer shorts in his apartment an amber Geiger claimed that when she opened the door to 1478 although she lived in 1378 and saw both M's Shem John sitting in his boxer shorts unarmed in his own house that she felt threatened for her life she immediately pulled out her firearm shot fired and killed an innocent black man unarmed sitting in boxer shorts in his own apartment because she felt threatened for his life the outrage over his death was immediate especially in black communities because we've seen this before we've been down this road too many times and if you were like me you predicted that another black life would go without justice sure enough signs of a brewing injustice were at play five search warrants were issued for her apartment that were never enacted upon by her co-workers in the Dallas Police Force it took 18 days for her to be released from active duty as a police officer then the media did what the media does they criminalized the black victim they said that both them John had miniscule amounts of marijuana in his apartment as if that qualified his killing while at the same time the racist and the violent social posts of amber Geiger never saw the light of day if you were like me you told yourself we've been here before you began to predict that another black life taken by another police officer was gonna go without justice his family the community begged for justice the trial began this year on September 23rd and if you were like me it would be honest you watched not hoping she would be convicted but praying she would and if you were like me and you'd be honest maybe you sat and watch her when she took the stand and you had no compassion for her as she pretended to cry over killing that young black man and if you were like me you were shocked surprised and ready to have a party when on October 1st the verdict came in that she was guilty of the murder of both them sham John that verdict felt like a victory to us felt like vindication for his life but the verdict the victory and the vindication was short-lived when a few years a few days later we found out the sentence 10 years and eligible for parole in five she can be released after five years for killing an unarmed innocent black man in his boxer shorts sitting in his own apartment and although we don't like to mention it that trials that verdict and that sentence exposed the racial disparity of sentencing in our legal injustice system of the United States of America she will get out in five years while Melissa Alexander a black woman in Florida who was being assaulted by her husband took a gun and shot a warning shot in the air and the same state of Florida that acquitted George Zimmerman for standing his ground against Trayvon Martin convicted Melissa Alexander for shooting a warning shot in the air and gave her 20 years in jail Ambra Geiger will be out in five for killing an unarmed innocent black man in his underwear in his own apartment and Melissa Alexander will be in jail for 20 for firing a warning shot in the air and if you're like me this whole thing touched a raw nerve that reminded especially African Americans that racism is not dead in the United States of America I know that makes some of us uncomfortable it makes your coworker uncomfortable we don't like talking about it we don't want to acknowledge the systemic racism that's in every institution we don't like talking about race and you would get sent to HR at your job if you asked the question I'm about to ask you right now what if what if a black man entered the unarmed apartment of a white woman and said he felt threatened for his life and killed her would the trial have gone down the same way if it was a black man who was guilty of killing a white woman and if there's any shaking of your head in your spirit then you've already acknowledged that race still matters in our justice system hear me beloved I am NOT trying to light the fire under your black rage [Applause] I'm trying to get you to understand how this trial put my Christianity in tension with my blackness that the Christ in me was fighting with the black on me because my Christianity was in tension with my blackness I struggle with this thing because my Christianity is in tension with my blackness I struggle with watching a black bailiff smooth over and comb the hair of a white woman guilty for killing a black man the Christian in me said oh how compassionate the black enemy said Oh [Applause] because my Christianity's intention with my blackness I'm conflicted when I see judge Tammy Kim come down out of her stand and hug amber Geiger and give her her Bible the Christian in me says ooh I want to applaud that she's hugging her and giving her a Bible but the black in me says that if that was a black man sitting in that defendants chair and a white judge would a white judge have ever come down and embraced a black man who was just found guilty of killing a white woman because my Christianity was in tension with my blackness I'm struggling when when both of John's mother asked the Dallas Cowboys to take a knee in protest of her son's killing and the entire team said no and because of that act of moral cowardice I have out I will never support the Dallas Cowboys another day in my life because they were to cowardice to make a stand no more Cowboys for me Chicago Bears here I come a because my Christianity is in tension with my blackness I struggled watching what you're about to see right now I don't want to say twice or for the hundredth time what youth or how much you've taken from us I think you know that but I just I hope you go to God with all what all the guilt all I think the bad things you may have done in the past each and every one of us may have done something that we were not supposed to do if you truly are sorry I know I can speak for myself I I forgive you and I know if you go to God and ask him he will forgive you and I don't think anyone could say it again I'm speaking for myself not even bad for my family but I love you just like anyone else I'm not gonna say I hope you rot and die it's just like my brother did but I see I personally want the best for you and I wasn't gonna ever say this in front of my family or anyone but I don't even want you to go to jail I want the best for you because I know that's what that's exactly what both one would want you to do and the best would be give your life to Christ but I'm not gonna say anything else I think giving your life to Christ and be the best thing that both don't want you to do again I love you as a person and I don't wish anything bad on you I don't know if this is possible but okay can I give her a hug please please yes those never seen that that was at the sentencing when Brent John was allowed to speak both his younger brother and because we differ on what forgiveness is and how it looks like his comments that day have sparked different reactions within the body of Christ on the one hand are those who say this is the epitome of forgiveness now this is exactly what Jesus was speaking about listen to a young man whose brother has been killed saying I love you I wish nothing harmful to you I don't even want you to go to jail can I give you a hug I know people who watch this and cried and said that's what Christ wants from us the judge was crying on the other hand there are those who say this is a shame another example of black people forgiving to easily and too quickly I have a preacher friend who called this post traumatic slave disorder that this is what slavery does to you on the one hand the epitome of Christianity on the other hand post-traumatic slave disorder and if you're like me and you'll be honest you were probably somewhere in the middle and your response was to be better than me I don't know if I could have done that that soon maybe when she get out of jail but I don't know about their differing responses to that act of forgiveness now the one thing we ought to hold in common regardless of what you see in this video on how you feel the one thing we ought to hold in common is an understanding that forgiveness is at the core of the life and the Ministry of Jesus Christ then of Jesus was about anything it was about forgiving and when you took that walk down that alley you gave your hand to that preacher and they dunked you in that water you are signing up to forgive people when they've done you wrong it's all Jesus was about his parable of the unjust steward is about forgiveness when he tells Peter 70 times 7 that's about forgiveness hear the words of warning when Jesus says you've got to forgive people because if you don't forgive others God cannot forgive you and you don't want to risk your salvation over somebody else's offense forgiveness is at the core of what it means to be a Christian but what forgiveness is when it ought to happen what it looks like and to what extent it takes us it's highly debated I'm not here this morning stand before you to cast judgment on how both his family is processing the death of a son and a brother I'm not here to give criticism or whether amber Giger's remorse was sincere or not I'm here to talk about forgiveness because I have found out at this stage of life what many you already know and that is that at some point in your life you're gonna struggle with forgiveness at some point in your life someone is going to do something so evil and so ugly against you that's going to put your Christianity in tension with your identity and you're going to find out forgiving is not as easy as some people would lead you to believe has anybody ever been there have you ever gone through ugly have you ever dealt with malicious have you ever dealt with lowdown have you ever dealt with a repeat offender have you ever dealt with somebody who knew what they did and meant to do what they did and you have struggled care how big your Bible is okay how much Jesus you say you love at some moment you are going to struggle with what it means to forgive and in that moment I want you to remember not only Brett John I want you to remember what goes down in Genesis chapter 15 for those who don't go to church [Music] [Applause] Genisys dr. dr. judy would tell you that Genesis is a book of the story of the patriarchs and the matriarchs of Israel in Genesis we hear the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis we get the story of Noah Genesis introduces us to Abraham and Sarah Rebecca and Isaac Jacob and Leah and Rachel but it would surprise you that the bulk of the book of Genesis is not about Abraham and Sarah it's not about Isaac and Rebecca it's not about Jacob and Leah and Rachel the bulk of the book of Genesis is about Joseph Joseph if you remember is the eleventh of 12 male children born to Jacob Joseph and Benjamin however are the only sons birthed by Jacob's true love Rachel and because of that Joseph is favored by his father Jacob above his other brothers the trouble really begins in chapter 37 when Joseph dreams of greatness and is not the dream of being great the gadem in problem the problem became that he shared it with his older brothers and his dream of being great and sharing it coupled with the favour of his father Jacob triggered the envy and the anger of his older brothers they're so envious and angry of Joseph that they throw him in a pit and want to kill him they wind up selling him into slavery and triggering a chain of bad event after bad event after bad event after bad event in Joseph's life he's enslaved he's falsely imprisoned he is betrayed and abandoned by people he helped out but the Bible says that after every event Joseph's realized God was still with him and because God was with him and God had favoured him and God had gifted him by the time you get to chapter 21 Joseph has been elevated to the highest seat in the land underneath Pharaoh Joseph by chapter 41 by the gift of God and the presence of God is now vice Pharaoh of Egypt the greatest nation in all the land nobody's higher than Joseph other than Pharaoh chapter 42 Joseph is put in a place all of us want to be in when somebody's done you wrong he sits in the highest seat of authority in the lamb and his brothers who did him wrong have come to Egypt looking for food they don't recognize Joseph but Joseph recognizes them and look at the sweet spot Joseph's in he's got all the authority and the ones who did him wrong now stand before him and need his help what a nice place to be in when people who've done you wrong need you what would you - well if Bret Jean upset you Joseph will as well given the opportunity to do whatever he wants to those who did him wrong listen at the words of Joseph don't be afraid I'm not God what you did you meant for evil but God worked it for my good and now hundreds of lives will be saved and I will take care of you and your children do you hear the forgiveness in those words of Joseph and I want to dissect it this morning really quickly and give you what I believe are four critical components of forgiveness let's do an anatomy of forgiveness real quick so we may understand what it looks like and what it calls us to do and the extent of it what is forgiveness hang out with Joseph right here and I suggest you that the first critical component of forgiveness is your deliberate decision to release yourself from the anger you feel from the offense a deliberate decision to let go of the anger you feel from the one who did you wrong that's what you see in Joseph that's what you heard in Bolton's brother two men who have decided I'm not gonna let my anger control me I'm not gonna let my hurt control me I'm not gonna allow my feelings to control me I will not be guided by my anger now let me tell you why it's real quiet on your pew because when people have offended you when someone's done you wrong anger is an addictive emotion and the reason so many people you know struggle with forgiveness is because they are addicted to being angry anger puts you in an empowering position because when I'm angry with you I feel justified in talking to you I want to talk to you treating you how I want to treat you doing whatever I want because you've done me wrong and because I'm addicted to being angry every time I see you I'm gonna treat you the way I think I want to and tell God it's alright anger is addictive and a lot of folks you know are ruining their lives and the lives of people around them because they are addicted to being angry what anger does is allowed me to put you in a place of fear wondering when you're gonna reap the wrath of my anger and we like making people afraid okay if you were ever raised in the neighborhood of an urban environment I was raised in the neighbor hood but anybody been raised in the neighbor hood no I talked about this I'm not in the in the hood if you've ever been raised in the hood you know this language that if you've ever done someone wrong you know what it's like to fear when they look you in the eye and say you better watch your back you know what that is that's an angry statement meant to induce fear because they believe that fear will somehow help their woundedness as long as you're afraid of me and I have the right to be angry I think I'm going to be healed but at the end of the day neither my anger nor your fear will deal with my woundedness so watch it when Joseph deals with his brothers repeatedly he tells him this don't be afraid what he's saying to them is listen I'm not gonna deal with you out of my anger I'm not gonna deal with you out of my hurt I'm not gonna deal with you out of my frustration yes you did me wrong and yes it hurt me and yes I'm angry but my anger and my hurt do not control my response the reason Joseph can let go of the anger there to one is that he's taken the time to work through his emotions watch what happens whenever Joseph confronts his brothers about what they did start in chapter 37 read to chapter 50 it's only 13 chapters you can do it today whenever Joseph confronted his brothers the Bible says he had to leave the room to cry so he could come back in he does not break down in emotion with them he leaves to handle his anger to handle his hurt because he realizes if I deal with you out of my anger and my hurt I will never be able to forgive you so he takes the time to work out his emotions as Mike fact chapter 43 verse 31 the Bible says that when Joseph left his brothers Judy he didn't come back until he controlled himself because he realized that anger and hurt will put you in a place where you're not controlling yourself and if you're going to be a child of God you've got to learn to control your emotions control your hurt control your anger and not take it out on everybody and anybody you've got to work out your emotions and it took him some time he does not see his brothers the first time and just forgive them sometimes forgiveness takes time and you are not less than a Christian if you don't forgive immediately and instantaneously sometimes you got to work through your hurt you've got to work through your anger forgiveness is not just a destination forgiveness is a journey that you have to choose to begin let me say that again forgiveness is not just a destination it is a journey and you've got to make a decision to take the first step and the first step is not their apology oh oh if you're waiting for them to say I'm sorry you may never begin the journey of forgiving someone because you can't wait for somebody else to be apologetic for what they did the first step in forgiving is not the apology it's your decision to let the anger go Joseph is able to let it go one because he's worked through his emotions but watch this number two I believe Joseph is able to let it go because when he sees his brothers he also remembers where he's sitting okay here it is you miss it when the past of what they did is in front of him he can look around and see where the Lord has brought him and when he compares what they did with where he now is he can say you meant it for evil but God worked it together for my good and when you get some but God on your resume it doesn't matter what they did you see what God has done is there anybody here who's ever been wounded but you know how God worked it for your good somebody hollered blood god listen I came by to tell you if you don't memorize no scripture memorize that right there if you don't know for God so loved the world you ought to know but God if you don't know they that wait on the Lord you are to know blood God if you don't know the Lord is my shepherd you ought to know but God if you remember but God it will remind you that the offender is not in charge God is Joseph I finally figured out why black folk is so forgiving I finally figured out why african-americans can forgive America for its racism because of anybody as a people has but God in our history it's people who look like you and me slavery but God Jim Crow but God Bull Connor but God George Wallace but God Emmett Till but God for little girls but God Ronald Reagan but God Donald Duck but God we know what God is able to do [Applause] now can i push it [Applause] be careful because anytime you make of the deliberate decision to let go of the anger Satan is gonna show up don't look at nobody don't look at nobody don't don't and when you decide to let go of the anger here's what Satan is gonna try to put in your head you ready you a fool after all she did to you you're just gonna let that go don't be stupid she wouldn't do that to you Satan wants you to feel foolish for letting go of the anger but here's a word for someone letting go of the anger does not mean there won't be consequence it means I'm not gonna let my anger drive the consequence that comes to you one of the consequences of your offense may be that we're not going to be reconciled hear me forgiveness and reconciliation are not synonymous there's there's nothing that says after you offended me if I forgive you we got to go to lunch it may mean I don't trust you anymore listen there's a difference between revenge and justice I get that Brent both of them doesn't Brent Jean doesn't want amber Gardner go to jail he doesn't want revenge but justice demands that there be payment for the death of a unarmed innocent black man revenge as my seeking personal retribution justice is the legal requirement for the consequence of the offense and if we erase the justice it affects the community justice is necessary to maintain communal relations don't let the devil think you make you think you're a fool for letting go of the anger because when I let go of my anger it's not for you when I let go of my anger I'm not trying to bless you when I let go of my anger I'm trying to bless me because one of the first steps are forgiveness is the deliberate decision to let go of the anger okay give you number two it's gonna get real quiet you just gonna get real quiet forgiveness requires a difficult discussion about the truth of the offense it requires a difficult discussion about the truth of the offense watch what happens y'all read read Joseph's story gets home starts in chapter 37 ends in chapter 50 that's 13 chapters you could read it right now when Joseph's brothers come to him and they don't recognize him Joseph gives him a pop quiz he says tell me about your family and watch what the brothers say well we've got a dad Jacob he back in Israel and our younger brother Benjamin's back there with him my name is Reuben this is Judah that's it's a car that's Neftali that's Dan that's Levi oh and we had another brother but he ain't here no more [Applause] they never admit watching this the way it goes down Joseph who's the brother they did wrong says tell me about your family they named all the brothers and then when they speak about Joseph they say and he passed away and Joseph his responses that ain't what happened that's not true so he says to them in verse 50 you meant it for evil I want you to know that I know what you did I can't let you be in my presence and we've not discussed the truth of the offense and you get to walk around as if you didn't do anything and I'm gonna hold it in as if you didn't do anything cuz watch us cuz now we're both walking in a lie and so in order for there to be forgiveness I've got to be able to disclose it because very rarely can you forgive when the offense is not made known to the offender say that again pastor very rarely can you forgive when the offense is not made known to the offender I must say it again very rarely can you forgive if the offense is not made known to the offender now I'm not saying the offender will acknowledge it I'm not saying they're gonna apologize for it I'm not saying this even gonna matter it's not about their response it's about you being able to share truth so that you can't forgive because you cannot forgive where you maintain a lie it's got to be truth I know you don't like that so let me give you some scripture here's what Jesus said one of my favorite verses Matthew 18 if somebody offends you don't wait for them to come and apologize you go to them and share with them the offense you feel because you can't forgive anybody until you share with them how they offended you it ain't got to be ugly it doesn't have to be contentious it doesn't have to be vulgar it could go simply like this Kevin I'm so glad they elected you to the Board of Deacons but before you begin serving I still let you know that what happened back in 87 left a bad taste in my mouth I'm the Lord has moved us on but I just want you to know I didn't appreciate what you did real simple somebody the reason you're having trouble forgiving is because you're still holding on to an offense that you've not shared with the one who offended you and maybe just maybe Earl maybe that's why african-americans also struggle to forgive white America for its racism because most of white America doesn't want to have the difficult discussion about the history of race do you know how many people on the other side want to distance themselves from a racist past in America do you know how many times I've heard well I never enslaved anybody and I've never been prejudiced and I've never been racist no you're the benefactor of slavery you're the benefactor of racism you're the benefactor of prejudice and until you're ready to have the conversation we can't really forgive you don't want to talk about systemic racism you don't want to talk about over police communities you don't want to talk about media criminalization of black men you don't want to talk about underfunded schools you don't want to talk about redlining districts you don't want to talk about voter ID laws you don't want to have the conversation if you look at the history of South Africa when they were trying to repair and rebuild from apartheid the very first thing Mandela and tutu mandated was racial conversation because if we don't have a truthful talk about what happened forgiveness will never be authentic gotta make a deliberate decision let go the anger you may have to have a difficult discussion about the truth of the offense number three you have to decline to disclose the offense to other people you know why some people struggle forgiving because you keep replaying the offense too much you keep sharing it with people who don't need to know and one of the signs you know you're on the road to forgiveness is when you stop talking about it so much does it have to come up in every conversation dang I asked you how you were feeling I don't need to know here's what I love about Joseph read his story we get home starts in chapter 37 to ends in chapter 50 it's 13 chapters you can read it right now when whenever Joseph confronted his brothers about their sin against him he never did it in the presence of the Egyptians he always took them to the side because Joseph knows Pharaoh loves Joseph if Pharaoh knew what his brothers had done to him Pharaoh would have had them all killed so Joseph makes the decision I can't tell everybody what you did because if I did they would kill you you've got to make a decision not to disclose the offense to everybody now take me let me tell you why that's hard it's exactly why it's hard because we like people to dislike who we dislike we don't like it when people like who we dislike some of your example let's say Judy and I have an issue Judy Judy's done me wrong she ran her mouth she says some things she shouldn't said she did sorry Judy and she did some she did some foul stuff to me right and I'm living with I'm wrestling with it I haven't forgiven her and Judy gets up to preach one Sunday and when she preaches thirteen people joined church and everybody starts shouting and clapping and it's burning a hole in my soul to watch people clap for Judy because I don't like Judy and I want you not to like Judy so when you come to me and you tell me who passes Judy blessing myself girl let me tell you about Judy Francis Williams you know before you do all that let me tell you about Judy you know and now I start disclosing the offense because I want you to dislike who I dislike but what we see from Joseph is that if I want to forgive you I've got to stop telling people who don't need to know here's how you know you're on the road to forgiveness when I'm not trying to sully your name when I'm not trying to ruin your reputation when I'm not trying to taint your witness when I'm not trying to threaten your job one of the biggest signs of immaturity is you showing up at somebody's job why you got a threatening my paycheck no a difficult decision let go of the anger difficult discussion you got to talk about the truth I'm not gonna disclose it to everybody but watch the last thing that's important in order to forgive you got determined that the destiny of the offender is in the gracious hands of God and whatever happens to you is in the hands of God watch what Joseph says it's important he says listen don't be afraid why cuz I'm not God I've put this in God's hands and whatever your destiny is it will not be dictated by my anger but rather by God's grace now before before you allow this to cause you to be hypocritical and hide your desire for revenge behind God because you know safe to do that safe to say they put it in God's hands and this ain't and God gonna handle him mm-hmm girl I got to worry about him God got him mm-hmm the the Lord saw what he did I got to be involved in it and then you know y'all it throws scripture on it because the Bible says be not deceived God is not mocked whatever man so a man also shall reap girl God got this that's not what this is this is a determination then I'm gonna take my hand off of it and I'm gonna put it in the hands of God how do you do that Jesus made it real clear pray for them who despitefully use you that the way you give it over to God is you begin praying for the one who offended you now the Bible does not say pray about them the Bible says pray for them there's a difference praying about you means I'm still telling God everything about you but praying for you is when I say God bless him it's what I say Lord heal his heart is why I say Lord touch his marriage Lord bless his children Lord promote him on his job and if you're having trouble forgiving I dare you to pray for them one of the ways you begin forgiving someone is praying for them God use her God bless her so good she'll never be that ugly again [Music] Lord purged the darkness out of her heart pray for them so I closed today by asking a real simple question no shout who are you struggling to forgive forgiveness is difficult but it's not impossible you've got to make the first step deciding not to operate in anger you got to decide that you may need to have a difficult discussion you've got to stop disclosing it maybe I pray for them and put them in the hands of God Lord we bow before you as those who know what it's like to be wounded and offended to be mistreated and to carry around the anger of the offense within us today Lord I'm praying for my brother and my sister who's unknowingly addicted to being angry Lord that should let them realize that anger and the hurts should not control how they respond heal them O God teach them how to work through those emotions that they may be like Joseph and control themselves I pray for someone Lord who's harboring an offense that they've not shared with the offender create a lord a venule way a medium for them to share if it's an email a letter a direct conversation because very rarely can you forgive an offense that the offender's not aware of or teach me how not to disclose this to everybody and anybody that in order to be healed of it I've got to stop speaking about it and lord I pray for them this morning I pray that you would put your hand upon them that you would work miracles in their lives that you would go exceedingly and abundantly above all that they could ask I need you to do Lord be so good to them that they can never be evil to anyone else again in Jesus name we pray amen before we leave today unless God [Applause]

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

Views: 90,138

Rating: 4.7967482 out of 5

Keywords: Alfred Street Baptist Church, anatomy of Forgiveness, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, 2019, botham jean, Amber Guyger, forgiveness, murder, coverup, white, black, race, racist, prejudice, outrage, court, barbie doll, hug, smile

Id: FeqEKiCTeiQ

Length: 56min 1sec (3361 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 14 2019