[MUSIC PLAYING] Hello, and welcome to this
message from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. We pray God uses this message to
reach people around the world. If this message encourages
you, let us know. Email us at
mystory@calvaryadq.org. And if you'd like to support
this ministry financially, you can give online securely
at calvaryabq.org/give. When you become
bitter in life, you plant kernels of unresolved
anger and resentment, and become trapped
by an overgrown jungle of bitter fruit. In the message, the destructive
harvest of a bitter heart, Skip examines four attributes of
a heart poisoned by bitterness. Now we invite you to open your
Bible to Hebrews Chapter 12 with Skip Heitzig. Would you turn in
your Bibles, please, to the book of
Hebrews Chapter 12. We're in a series we've
called White Collar Sins. And I've worn a white
collar for the occasion. And we're studying something
today that some of you might find very
appropriate, in fact, something that some
of you struggle with. In the 16th Century, there
were two renowned artisans, who were both hired to
beautify the Vatican in Rome. One was Michelangelo,
the other was Raphael. Michelangelo was a painter who
fancied himself a sculptor. Raphael, of course, was
the renowned sculptor. Both of them did
very different tasks. Both of them were
highly regarded in their own particular fields. But interestingly, a bitterness
broke out between them, a rivalry broke
out between them, so that whenever they would
pass each other in the hall, or even meet, they refused
to speak to each other. Everybody could see it. It became a renowned bitterness. And the ironic thing
is that both of them were doing this for
the glory of God, doing it for the glory of God
while holding onto bitterness at the same time. Unfortunately,
when you get people that are that
revered and renowned, that bitterness, that rivalry,
everybody can taste it. It defiles so many people. And it becomes renowned. For example, Winston
Churchill, everybody knows. Most people know that
there was this long going, long ongoing rivalry
between Winston Churchill and a woman named Lady Astor. And they would often say
things to each other publicly, even to put down each other. And it got to be really bad. So for example, on one
occasion, Lady Astor said to Winston
Churchill publicly, sir, if you were my husband, I
would put poison in your tea. Unfazed by that, he
turned to her and said, Madam, if I were your husband,
I would drink that tea. Most everyone can think
of a bitter person. But seldom will you find
someone willing to admit that they are a bitter person. And yet I think more
people may deal with, struggle with a root of
bitterness than we think. I will admit that when I was
a young man, a young boy, I became angry, and that
anger turned to bitterness toward my own father. He was a harsh man, not very
gracious, very demanding, very exacting, and I
struggled with that. And it became for a
period of time very dark. And God had to do a work. And God did do a work of
restoration and reconciliation. But it was something that I
struggled with as a young man. And I was reading a little
article blog by a counselor by the name of Mike Dubose,
who lived for years being bitter at his own father. He was angry and bitter
because his dad left the family when Mike was a young boy. He said he was talking
to a counselor who said, you know, Mike, it's
interesting that people from similar backgrounds,
same circumstances as you, even within the same family
can react different ways. For example, he said
you might have one child like you become very resentful. At the same time
in the same family, you might have a child who
doesn't become resentful, but learns from it,
and grows from it, and becomes better
because of it. So that set him on
a path of healing. But Mike Dubose tells
of a conversation that he had with a friend
who is 70 years old. I'll let him tell the story. He said, we spoke
about his bad childhood and how he still
resented his father, who had been dead for years. You can imagine if
he's 70 years old, his dad would have been
gone many years before. I advised him to
forgive and move on, but he said angrily, I will
never forgive my father, even to the grave. His dead father, said
Mike, his dead Father and his negative
childhood experiences were still haunting him
and generating anger more than 60 years later. And he concluded by writing
bitterness had taken deep root in his mind and his heart. Listen, of all the human
emotions that are out there, this is one that
you ought to fear the most because bitterness
is emotional cancer. As one leader put it, bitterness
blows out the candle of joy and leaves the soul in darkness. Bitter people are
like porcupines a bit. They may have many fine
points, but they're very hard to get close to. And they're hard to get close
to because they're harsh, they're critical,
they're unforgiving, they're judgmental,
they're sarcastic, angry. But it's more than just anger. It's anger that has
grown into something, morphed into something. Or, they're like icebergs. They're very cold toward you. They're very cold-shouldered,
aloof, act like they don't need you,
they don't want you, they've got nothing to
say, I'm good without you. And like icebergs, most of
the problem is underneath. You're only seeing the
tip of the iceberg. The real problem is what's
going on under the surface. Now, today we're
dealing with the garden of your own heart,
so to speak, what you allow to grow in your soul. So we're going to
look at bitterness. And I want to show
you out of this text the book of Hebrews
chapter 12 beginning in verse 12 four
attributes of bitterness. We're going to follow
the stages of its growth from a small seed put into
a certain kind of soil that nurtures and nourishes it, that
eventually grows a root system, that eventually produces fruit. So let's begin by
saying that bitterness begins with small seeds. I'm taking you to chapter
12 of Hebrews verse 12 where he begins in this paragraph. "Therefore strengthen the
hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
and make straight paths for your feet, so
what is lame may not be dislocated but rather healed. Pursue peace with all
people and holiness without which no one
will see the Lord. Looking carefully, lest anyone
fall short of the grace of God, less any root of bitterness
springing up cause trouble. And by this, many
become defiled." Now, this paragraph opens up
with a metaphor of a racer, of a runner. It's something the author begins
with in the first few verses of the same chapter
where he says, let us run the race that is set before us. Now he returns to this metaphor. And now here is the
runner on the track whose hands are drooping down. He's losing the proper
form for running. He's becoming exhausted. And in his exhaustion,
his knees get wobbly. And in the very second
verse, verse 13, he's veering off his
own path, getting into the next lane, which
can become detrimental, it can dislocate his own joints,
or it can hurt a fellow runner. So the picture then
is of a Christian, a believer running the race of
faith who becomes discouraged. What is it that
discourages the runner? People, because you'll notice
that he says pursue peace with all people. The biggest challenge
to your peace is people. Of all the
circumstances in life, people are the source
of rattling your cage. Why? Because people can hurt
us, they can upset us, they can offend us, they can
affront us, they can ignore us. And all of those things hurt. However, what we fail to lose
sight of when people hurt us-- and this is where bitterness
begins, by the way, with that anger due to hurt. What we fail to see is that
perhaps God is actually using those difficult
people to get our attention, to use them as a course
correction, to chasten us. By the way, that is the
context of the entire chapter. He starts with a runner
metaphor, goes back to it. But in between, he talks about
the chastening of the Lord. I want you to see a few verses. Look at verse 3. "For consider him--"
that is Jesus-- "who endured such hostility
from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and
discouraged in your souls. You have not resisted
to bloodshed striving against sin--" implying that's
what Jesus went through-- "and you have forgotten
the exhortation which speaks to you as sons." Here's the quote, "My son, do
not despise the chastening--" that is chastising, that is
correction, that is spanking-- "do not despise the
chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when
you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord
loves, he chastens, and he scourges every
son whom he receives." Now, when you lose sight of that
fact that God could be using a difficult person to chastise
you, to course correct you, when you start seeing people
not as God's correction, you start thinking that they're
the devil's aggravation. This can't be from God. It has to be from the devil. Well, maybe it's from God
because he's chastening you. God can use those difficulties. But that word that
the person says, that deed that that person
does, it becomes a seed that is planted in your heart,
that if you allow it to grow, leads to bitterness. And I've noticed something. When people are discouraged,
like this runner is here, when you are
discouraged, you are most vulnerable to those
kind of thoughts inwardly that lead to a bitter heart. So where does
bitterness come from? It comes from a seed
of anger planted by somebody who has hurt you. Bitterness begins
to germinate when something happens to you that
you don't think you deserve. I don't deserve this. I don't know why this
is happening to me. I don't deserve this. It's like the student who went
to his professor in college very angry because the professor
gave him a zero on his test. And he said, excuse me, I
don't deserve this zero. The professor said,
I agree with you. You don't deserve it. But it's the lowest
grade I could give you. Now sometimes people
want to hurt you. It's an intentional
statement or deed. Other times it's not
intended at all to hurt you. In fact, sometimes
it's imaginary. You just are imagining
this whole thing. And yet, though they're
not trying to hurt you, they hurt you. You feel slighted. Bitterness is simply
internalized anger that you let fester over time. You hold onto it long enough,
and the anger will change. It will morph into
something else. And that is resentment
and then bitterness. An article I found in Psychology
Today, the author said, all bitterness
starts out as hurt. And then the author says
it festers into an anger. He continues, for anger and
it's first cousin resentment is what we're all
likely to experience whenever we conclude that
another has seriously abused us. Left to fester,
that righteous anger eventually becomes the corrosive
ulcer that is bitterness. So the picture in
Hebrews Chapter 12 is discouragement has
planted a seed of hurt, the hurt has turned to anger,
the anger becomes resentment, and eventually, the
resentment becomes bitterness. According to Steven Diamond,
a PhD on this subject, he defines bitterness as a
chronic and pervasive state of smoldering resentment. And I thought that
was very picturesque, a smoldering resentment. And he said he
regards this as one of the most destructive and
toxic of all human emotions. So bitterness begins
with small seeds. But then it grows. And the second characteristic,
the second attribute I want you to see is
that bitterness requires the right kind of soil. So you look at something,
and notice it in verse 15, if you don't mind. The author says
looking carefully-- that means paying
attention very diligently-- looking carefully lest anyone
fall short of the grace of God. Now, the truth is you can
never outstrip or outrun the grace of God. The Bible says where sin
abounds, grace overflows. But you can come short of it. You can lose sight
of the grace of God. And when a person
misses the grace of God in his or her
life, they become susceptible to a
life of bitterness. Why? Because when we forget how
gracious God was to us, then we cease being gracious
to other people. And why aren't we gracious? Well, this is what you deserve. This is not what I deserve. We start forgetting just how
merciful and gracious God was to us. So we need to grow in
grace, because if we don't grow in grace, bad
things can grow in us. And one of those bad
things is this, bitterness. Now some soils are easier to
plant things in than others. So it is with human hearts. There are some people's
hearts that are just ripe, for growing a harvest
of bitterness. And what kind of heart is that? People who hold onto things
and never let them go. If we keep ruminating
on wrongs in the past, keep chewing on something that
somebody did to us in the past, it begins to affect
us in the present, and it becomes an essential
part of who we are. It is our new identity. We are that hurt one. We are the victim. Let me tell you a
story of somebody who was like that in the Bible. She didn't start out that way. Her name was Naomi
in the book of Ruth. Naomi is a name that means
pleasant, agreeable, friendly. What a great name. Here comes Miss pleasant. I can see her coming down
the road in Bethlehem smiling at everybody. Well, she gets
married and has kids. There's a famine in the
land of Israel in Bethlehem where she's from. That's the breadbasket
of ancient Israel. It forces her family
to go out and seek food in Moab, a neighboring country. And things go from bad to worse. She loses her husband Elimelech. She loses her two boys
Mahlon and Kilion. They both die. So she's bereft of three
males in her family. All of that pain
that occurs to her becomes a seed that grows in
her heart, a seed of anger that becomes bitterness toward God. God is the only one
left that she can blame, so she blames God. So she comes back to
Bethlehem because now there's food back in the land of Israel. She comes back to town. People see her, and
they go, oh, look. Naomi's back. Miss pleasant is back with us. And listen to her response. She said, don't call me
Naomi, which means pleasant. Call me Mara. The word means bitter. Now she's defining herself
as a bitter person. Self-admission, don't
call me pleasant. You call me bitter. Now listen to why. For the Almighty has dealt
very bitterly with me. I went out full--
not really true-- and the Lord brought
me home again empty. The Lord has
testified against me. The Almighty has afflicted me. Now in that little group
of sentences, four times she blames God. Four times she says, I am
bitter and it's God's fault. Four times she says I'm not
happy and it's God's fault. She is now defined her very
life by that destructive emotion of bitterness. And that'll happen. Bitterness turns you
into a perpetual victim, which is a bad place to be. But it's a very
convenient place to be. Because if you're
always the victim, you can justify your anger. I'm angry and I have
a right to be angry. If you're always a victim,
you hold onto that anger. You blame others. It's always somebody else's
fault. You play the victim. And if you analyze it
carefully and biblically, you'll discover something. Bitterness is really
a form of pride. Because in bitterness,
you are saying, God, I don't deserve this. And by the way, it's not
smart to pray, God, give me what I deserve, because
what you deserve is far from what you
may think you deserve. But this is a form of pride
to say I don't deserve this. I deserve much better. So when a hurt comes your way,
if it's a word somebody says, if it's an action
somebody does, don't let that take root in your heart. You can't let that
thing continue to grow. Don't water it with
self-exalting thoughts. Don't fertilize it with
other people's sympathies. You've got to root it out,
because if you hold onto it, it's going to grab hold
of you and not let you go. The world is filled
with people who have not dealt with past hurts. And people who
don't deal with past hurts, there's a profile that
they eventually fit into. They are critical, they
notice bad things around them, not good things, always they
notice all the bad things. Not only are they
hyper critical, but their fault finders. They're sin sniffers. Somebody is rotten around here. I can smell sin. And when they talk about people,
they can't help themselves. There's going to be a put down
in that conversation somewhere. It's going to go negative. Bitterness is what puts
a scowl on one's face and puts venom in one's words. It's bitterness that has grown. So it begins with small seeds. It requires the right kind
of soil for it to grow. But the third characteristic,
the third attribute is that bitterness
develops deep roots. Again, look at verse 5, 15-- excuse me. "Looking carefully, lest anyone
fall short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness
springing up causes trouble. And by this, many
become defiled." Now this whole root
of bitterness thing, the author of Hebrews didn't
come up with this on his own. He is referring, I believe, to
a text in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 29 where the
author is writing what God said to the people of Israel. Deuteronomy 29, the Lord
said, "there will not be among you those with a root
bearing bitterness or wormwood. And the meaning of
that in Deuteronomy 29 originally refers to those
people who are superficially identified with
the God of Israel, but they are going back to
their old roots, paganism. They're leaving the
covenant relationship, they're forsaking
the grace of God, forgetting the covenant
of God, and they're not bearing spiritual fruit. Their life is defined
by a root of bitterness, not a sweet root, not one
that grows good fruit. Here's the larger point. People who let a
seed like this grow in the soil of their
hearts eventually develop a root system that
grows, and grows larger, and grows stronger, and
pretty soon becomes immovable. Why is it called a root? Because it's hidden. You don't see it. You walk over roots
of trees all the time. They're growing underneath you. They're not apparent
at first, at first. They will be apparent
later on because the root is going to produce fruit. But at first, it's hidden. And while it grows hidden,
unseen, it grows stronger, and it can be destructive. I have this tree in
the back of my house. And I've used it in
many illustrations. But one thing that you need
to know is that when it was growing early on-- and
it's grown quite large-- I had people tell me you've
got to get rid of that. This kind of tree
can destroy houses. It can destroy foundations
because the roots tend to be surface roots. And they can just break things
up, and break foundations up, and break heating ducts up. But I love this tree. I haven't gotten rid of it. Well, I have paid a
consequence for it because my back porch shows
a nice long crowning crack because one of the roots
of that tree put it there. It can be very destructive. And so a root of bitterness
will grow its tentacles around your heart, and
choke off spiritual life, and choke off emotional life,
and will dominate your life if you let it. And so Paul says-- no wonder
he says this in Ephesians 3. "Get rid of all bitterness,
rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, and
every form of malice." Some people are bitter
at their parents. Some people are
bitter at churches. Some people are
bitter at leaders. Some people are bitter
at their ex-spouses. Some people are bitter
at their current spouses. Bitterness destroys homes. Colossians chapter
3 verse 19, Paul says, "husbands,
love your wives. And do not be
bitter toward them." Sometimes rather than a husband
or wife being the better half, they're the bitter half. And it's a big problem
among God's people. I think bitterness holds
back the power of God. Our life gets so clogged
by this root system. We need to get
Roto-Rooter in there now. Because the power of God is-- the drain is clogged. God wants to move,
but our bitter hearts block him from doing that. See, when your heart is bitter,
God will not be real to you. And that's because hatefulness
and holiness cannot dwell in the same heart. They are exclusive. So instead of letting that seed
grow, and grow, and branch out a root system, you need to
plant your life in better soil. Listen to Paul's
words in Ephesians 3. "Being rooted and
grounded in love." And again, in Colossians
chapter 2, "being rooted and built up in him." So when you sink your life into
the rich soil of God's love, and into that rich soil,
and life of God's character, that's the soil. That's where you want
to be plugged into. In Ephesians 3, which
I just mentioned, I'm going to read two verses
in the New Living translation, Ephesians 3:17 and 18. Listen up. "I pray that Christ will be more
and more at home in your hearts as you trust him. May your roots go down
deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the
power to understand, as all God's people should,
how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his
love really is." Wouldn't you rather live there? Wouldn't you rather be plugged
into that kind of soil? So that it's
inexhaustible-- oh, the love of God in all directions. Well, once you grow
the right root, you'll get the
right fruit, which leads us to the fourth
attribute of bitterness. And that is bitterness
will produce bad fruit. So it begins as a seed. You allow it to grow. You nurture it, you hold onto
it, you ruminate over it, you chew on it, it grows,
it develops a root system, and over time, it
produces something. And it's always bad. Would you look at verse
15 to see what he says? "Looking carefully lest anyone
fall short of the grace of God, lest any root of
bitterness--" now watch this-- "springing up--" ah, now
it's not hidden anymore. Now it springs up
through the soil. And when you walk by it
in the spring or summer you see it now. So that's what's happened
this little tree of mine. Those little roots
have not only busted through the concrete,
every spring they sprout these little extra trees. It's like saying, we're
here, and we're taking over. And it just springs
up through the soil. Now watch what it does. Springing up causes trouble. That means it
causes you trouble. Some translations
say troubling you. So first of all, the root
grows in your direction. And then notice the second part. "And by this--" that is
by it growing toward you and ruining you-- "by this many become defiled." So the root of
bitterness always grows in two different
directions, toward you if you harbor bitterness,
and toward others who are defiled by it. Bitterness is like
taking poison hoping that your enemy will die. You go, good, I'm going
to get that person back. Poison. When's it going to happen? And all the while,
it's self-destructive. You're the one being corroded. Bitterness is a form
of emotional suicide. It saps the peace of
mind out of your life. Dr. Leon Seltzer
said, "It can--" that is bitterness can--
"lead to long lasting anxiety and depression. It can precipitate
vengeful or violent acts. It can create an
attitude of cynicism. It can rob you of
potential joys. It can interfere with healthy,
satisfying relationships. And it can undermine
your physical health." Who wants that? That's what it does
to the person who harbors it and dishes it out. It destroys that person. And let me add another one. It can ruin your
relationship with God. It won't sever it. It won't take it away,
but it will ruin it. First John chapter 4
verse 20, "if someone says I love God but hates
another Christian or a brother, that person is a liar, for if
we don't love people we can see, how can we love God
whom we have not seen?" There's an old saying that goes,
bitterness does more damage to the vessel in which it
is stored than to any one upon which it is poured. You think that that bitterness
is going to satisfy your heart and get back to that person? It's really the damage
is being done in you. Second, it grows not only
toward you, but toward others. Notice that last part. It says by this-- that is by
you, by it destroying you, by this, many become defiled. I was reading the words
of a pastor who said, I have a lady in my
church, who's in her 80s. And 50 years ago, her aunt
said something to her. It was very hurtful. And she held on to
that pain to this day. And when she tells the story
of what her aunt said to her, she tells it in
such vivid detail and with such
emotional outbreak, it's as if it happened
to her yesterday. She is as emotional about what
happened 50 years ago as it just freshly happened to her. So he said 50 years later-- and she is still in the
hands of the torturer. 50 years later, and
she's still defiling many by the telling
of those details that happen way back when. In the book of Acts chapter
8, it's a great story, but it's a sad story. It's a great story in that
Philip left Jerusalem, and goes up to Sumeria, and he
preaches the gospel, and people in Sumeria
hear it, and they respond, they believe in Jesus,
or a revival breaks out. And many people in that
city are physically healed, miraculously healed. So the gospel goes
out in great power. The bad part is there's
a guy in town in Sumeria named Simon the
sorcerer, Simon Magus. And he had been tricking
these people a long time. They all thought he
was something special because he had all these
wonderful working tricks. So in come the evangelists. They preach the gospel. People believe in Jesus. They get physically healed. Now they get top billing. And old Simon the
sorcerer over here is like, nobody's watching
my channel anymore. So he gets all upset and
goes to the apostles. He's angry, goes
to the apostles, and he offers to give them
money to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, it says. Hey, what does that cost? I want to do that trick. That's cool. And Peter turns to him and says,
you are poisoned by bitterness, and you are bound by iniquity. See, the disciples,
these apostles were getting more
attention than Simon is. And he's angry, and he's
bitter, and Peter nailed it, says you are poisoned
by bitterness. And then Peter says this. Repent. OK, now that I've exposed that
root in you, turn from it, root it out, turn
around, repent, that perhaps the thought of your
heart would be forgiven you. The words bitter and better both
start with B and end with ter. But what is the difference
between better and bitter? A single letter. When you put I in that
word, it's bitter. When you take I out of
that word, it's better. When you put I in
it-- and that's always the problem, when it's
always about I, me, myself, what I deserve
you are prone to become a bitter person. When you take I out-- and it's not about what I want. It's what Thy will be done,
Thy kingdom come, not I, but Him, you. Life gets so much better. And I know. I am absolutely certain
that everyone here has something or someone
in their background that they could use as
an excuse to get bitter. It could potentially cause
bitterness if you let it. And that's why we need to bring
it to the foot of the cross and say it's yours, God. I give it to you. I give my life to you. I lay my pain down before you. Because even those
people who have caused such pain think of it as
God's course correction. Because the author here
uses Jesus as an example. Look at those mean people, those
bad people who arrested Jesus, and treat them horribly,
and put them on a cross. Yeah, but the cross
was the best thing that ever happened to humanity. So the worst thing
becomes the best thing. Couldn't God do that with us? Couldn't all those
bitter things that happened in the past actually
make you a better person? Yeah, if you take I out,
if you take I out and put Thy in there. It's all about
Him, what you want, what you're doing in my life. Life gets so much better
rather than bitter. Let's pray together. Let's ask, let's take
those things before Him, let's leave them there. And, Father, we
come, and we want to tell you that,
like everybody else, we deal with issues in
our heart, issues of hurt. Some of us are hurt very easily. Some of us are a
little bit dense, and we don't really get
a clue when we're hurt. And that's probably good. But we're still vulnerable
nonetheless, and especially when we're discouraged. And people have done things
to us, and said things to us, and we felt ignored by some,
not appreciated by others. And some of us have had to deal
with vile past experiences, horrible life-changing
experiences. But, Father, by the grace of
God, lest we come short of it, we say, God, you've been so
good to us, so gracious to us. We don't ever want to come short
of that or lose sight of it. But realize that since you have
been so free to forgive us, would you by your grace
give us the freedom to set others free
by forgiving them, and not holding onto
the past of what they did to us any more than
we hold onto the past of what we've done to you. And you've forgiven us. So, Lord, I pray that you would
let us be rooted in good soil, in better soil, in
your loving soil. Lord, I also want to pray
for those who don't have a relationship with you yet. They've come. They've been invited by a
friend or family member. And we want them
to feel welcome. But more than anything else,
we want them to go to heaven. We want them to be forgiven. We want them to have a new
life, a spiritual life, a life where they're enabled
to do what they couldn't do in their own flesh. So, Lord, I pray
that you would move some who have come into
a relationship with you, where they realize how
good you are and forgiving you are, as their sins are
forgiven by their receiving Christ as Savior. So our heads are bowed,
our eyes are closed, and I want you to
think about your life. Is there something
in your life that has kept you back from a
personal relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ? Maybe it's a past hurt. Somebody hurt you really badly. Maybe it's a past failure,
on your part even. And you think, well,
I'm not good enough, or I'm not perfect enough. Perfect, you're just at
the right place then. Or, maybe you feel
hurt, like by a parent. And you're thinking, why
should I trust in God? He might let me down. Let God prove that wrong. Whatever that pain
is, let it go, and let something else
grow in its place. Seek. Seek your roots deep into the
soil of God's love for you today. So if you're here, and you
don't know Christ personally, if you've never made a personal
decision that, yes, Lord, I want you to be my
Lord and my Savior, not just a religious experience,
not just I go to church, or hang out with people
who believe in God and trust in Jesus. I'll pray and I'll sing. But it's a personal
relationship, a decision on your part to
give your life to Christ, or maybe you've
wandered from him. You need to get back
on track with him and enjoy that pleasant
fruit, that newness of life, that lightness of heart. If that describes you, our heads
are bowed, our eyes are closed, my head is up, my eyes are open. I will acknowledge as
you raise your hand and you're saying,
Skip, pray for me. I want to give my
life to Christ today. I'm going to surrender right
now to the Lord Jesus Christ. You raise your hand, and
I'll acknowledge you. I want to pray for you. I'd like to know who I'm
praying for specifically. So you raise your hand. And you're saying I'm going
to give my life to Christ. Now, God bless 'you
on the left and right there and toward the
back, all on my left. Anybody else? Anyone else? Raise your hand up. God bless you to my right,
and you, and you in the back. Yes. It's so freeing to say, Lord,
I want to step into freedom. I want to experience your love,
your grace, your forgiveness. Bless you. In the balcony, I see your hand. Now bless you and you
right in the middle. So, Father, my prayer is, as
is the prayer of my brothers and sisters, that real
transformation will take place. In every life
represented by that hand, there may be a background
of pain or hurt. There might be a
background of deep failure. But, Lord, the truth
is you love them. And you sent your son
just for this reason, to restore, and to
set things right. And I pray, Father, that these
who have raised their hand would experience freedom inside,
a freedom to think and see life and people
differently, a freedom to view you differently, more
than anything else, Lord, that they'll have new
freedom and a life rooted in Christ as they
experience your forgiveness of their sins in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand to
your feet please? As we sing this final
song, I'm going to ask now, those of you who raised your
hand, no matter where you are, would you find the nearest
aisle by you, and walk this way, and let me pray a word of
prayer with you when you come? As soon as you come
up, everybody's here. I'm going to lead you
in a word of prayer. It's the day when you
give your life to Christ. I do this because Jesus
himself called people publicly. [APPLAUSE] And you'll hear how
we encourage you. We'll clap for you. You're so welcome here. You come and stand right here. That's good. Awesome. [SINGING] Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, come to the alter. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, come to the altar. Oh. We're going to wait just
another couple moments. Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. It could be that when
you come to church and you look at
Christians, you might have the wrong thought that,
well, those people have it all together. Those are perfect people. And I'm not a person
who has it all together. Therefore, I can't
come to God because I don't have it all together. You come to God as you are. He knows you don't
have it all together. That's why Jesus came
to get you all together. So you come as you are. And if you're broken, good. You come and let God fix you. If your heart is busted up,
let God pour his healing balm and make all things new. I have never yet
met a family who is not a dysfunctional
family, not one. We all got a background. We've got something, someone. God knows that. That's why he gives us the
church, a brand new family. And this is not a religious
group, contrary to popular opinion. I am not a religious person. I think religion damages people. I think a real relationship
with Jesus is what heals people. You just get real with God. And salvation begins when
a broken man or woman admits I need your help. I need your help, God. That's where God meets
us in our brokenness. So if there's anybody
else, we're just going to give it another
moment, and then we're going to pray and
let you guys go. But anybody else,
it's an opportunity. Seize it. Take it. [SINGING] Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was brought with the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, come. Come, oh, come. Yes. Come. Come, come, come. Now, if you don't
mind, can I ask everyone who's come
forward, will you just step this way a little bit? Just come on over here. Now it's just us. I'm going to lead
you in a prayer, OK? This is very simple. I'm just going to pray out loud. I'm going to ask you to say
these words of this prayer out loud after me. You say them from your heart. You say them to God. Prayer is a very simple thing. It's just talking to God. So as I pray, you say
these words after me, OK? In fact, tune us all out. Just tune God in and say,
Lord, I give you my life. Lord, I give you my life. I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I'm a sinner. Please, forgive me. Please, forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I believe in Jesus. I believe He came to Earth. I believe He came to Earth. That He died for my sin. that he died for my sin. That He shed his blood for me. That He shed his blood for me. That He rose from the dead. That He rose from the dead. That He's? Alive right now. That He's alive right now. I turn from my sin. I turn from my sin. I leave my past behind. I leave my past behind. All the hurts and all the pain. All the hurts and all the pain. I turn to Jesus as my savior. I turn to Jesus as my savior. Help me to live
for Him as my Lord. Help me to live
for Him as my Lord. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen. [APPLAUSE] Living a life of
bitterness is to walk down a self-destructive road that
banishes peace and promotes self-centeredness. How would you fight
against bitterness taking over your life? Let us know. Email mystory@calvaryabq.org. And just a reminder, you can
give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/give. Thank you for joining us
for this teaching from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church.
