The Most Difficult Math Problem

my name is Michael Davidson and here's what's going on at abundant life get ready for the Global Leadership Summit which takes place on Thursday August 9th and Friday August anthem right here at a LCF via satellite this year's theme is everyone has Intimus which ties nicely to ALCS goal of equipping you to positively influence others in your community and to share the good news about Jesus Christ and any place at the right place whether it's at home on the job at school or at church you have a great opportunity to share your personal testimony influence others and help lead them towards a new walk with the Lord this year's event includes 12 summit faculty from the private religious business and nonprofit sectors make plans to join a LCF family along with over 400,000 Christians for more than 135 countries and experience a unique blend of vision inspiration and practical skills that you can apply immediately just sign up go to ALCS net slash GLS 18 and use a special priority code rate for covenant partners located in the printed copy of your current newsletter as you look forward al CF has a goal for sending out every covenant partner on a mission strip by the end of 2020 so if you're looking to really extend your sphere of influence join Glen : and a rich young this summer as they partner with established ministries in both Mexico and Zambia to advance the great work that the law is already doing in those areas for more information about these two unique and life-changing opportunities go to a ocf dotnet slash global missions and speaking of unique opportunities you don't have to wait til Sunday to connect with the a LCF community worship night is a midweek gathering to worship the Lord through song prayer and a message from Pastor join us or neckerchief like in wednesday june 6th from 615 to 8 p.m. we'll meet up in the fellowship hall for an abbreviated great family gathering followed by worship which begins promptly at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary remember please bring a dessert or beverage to share with the LCF family and if you're not already to pada a LCF family we'd love for you to join us at our event but if you're looking for a church home and want to know more about our history mission and core values sign up for our next exploring covenant partnership event on Sunday June 10th from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the chapel you can register at a LCF net / signups or through the AL CFM okay get ready for shipwrecked a fun and exciting week of adventure for our 3 through 11 year-olds your kids will journey to an uncharted island where they'll learn how they can anchor to the truths that bring them through life's mini storms our voyage set sail on the week of June 11 through the 15th here at alcm from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. each day to donate serve or register go to a LCF net slash signups or visit the contributor station after service now if you're like many of our Sunday worshippers you're probably ready for lunch by the time church ends on Sundays but on June 24th we've got you covered after service take just a few short steps out into the main parking lot and join us for our seasonal food truck fellowship from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. you'll have live jazz music by chocolate rice and food available for purchase from a select group of food trucks offering a variety of delicious food come hang out with the entire ALCL community and this fun family event and finally make plans to join us during our hour of power on Friday June 29th from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in a chat it promises to be an impactful hour of worship and praising God as we come together to pray for our families our body of believers and for our country now these are just some of the upcoming LCF events and activities but to stay connected to everything that is a LCF check out our website app by weekly emails newsletter and social media and remember at a LCF our goal is to make a difference in your life so that you can make a difference in a life of the people in your sphere of influence or as we like to say around here abundant life exists to make a better you for a better world [Applause] now I can't let y'all come all the way from Boston without at least asking if you can do one more if you all want to hear one more at some point no after sir after the sermon if you can we'd love to be blessed one more time I if I didn't ask they would vote me out as pastor of this church if you have your Bibles or devices whatever way you would get in acquire the scriptures please meet me in Matthew chapter 18 we are in a series all this year we're talking about the gospel and we have quoted often from my dear friend and brother who was probably the next pastor the Southern Baptist Convention JD Greer and JD Greer says that the gospel is not just the diving board it is also the the the swimming pool in other words JD is trying to help us understand that the gospel is not just something that gets us started it is the daily waters that we swim through with that understanding we made our way through the book of Galatians doing an eight-week study on that book we took a couple weeks off still very gospel focus as we turned our attention towards Good Friday and the empty tomb and now we are right smack dab in the middle of a series called unleashed in which we are asking the question what does the gospel unleashed through my life and in relationships with others truly look like the only way you really know you're saved is how you relate to other people and the only way you really really really know you're saved it's how you handle folk who have messed over you I heard an ouch over here I didn't hear an amen so I want to talk about that this morning Matthew 18 verses 21 to 35 is a tough text it's not for the faint of heart but it gets to the core of what the gospel Unleashed looks like in our lives verse 21 says then Peter came up and said to him speaking of Jesus Lord how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him as many as seven times jesus said to him I do not say to you seven times but seventy times seven I went to Bible College to get out of math and all y'all been y'all you know in the bay y'all start doing algebra at 18 months but the last time I checked seventy times seven is 490 times verse 23 therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants when he began to settle one was brought to him who owed him make note of this phrase 10,000 talents since he couldn't pay his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made so the servant fell on his knees imploring him have patience with me and I will pay you excuse me I will pay you everything if you want to know what a good biblical definition of forgiveness is highlight verse 27 here it is and out of pity for him the master of that servant here it is released released released him and forgave him the dead but when that same servant went out he found one of his fellow servants who owed him make note of this phrase a hundred denarii seizing him he began to choke him saying pay what you owe so spello servant fell down and pleaded with him have patience with me and I'll pay you he refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt when his fellow servants saw what had taken place they were greatly distressed and they went reported to their master all that he had all that had taken place and the Masters summoned him and said to him are you kidding me is that what your translation says you wicked servant I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you and in anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt verse 35 to steal a phrase from my youngest when he was a toddler freaks me out so also my Heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother not with your mouth see that's easy you know I remember one of my kids did something he shouldn't have pretty bad he dumped a liquid substance on his younger brother and I had to say okay let's mediate this thing say I'm sorry you know I'm sorry what do you say I forgive you what's obvious you wouldn't a genuine apology and you really weren't forgiving so it's easy to say I forgive you with your mouth you know what Jesus is saying in verse 35 if you do not forgive from your heart you go to hell he's not preaching work salvation he's not saying forgive so you can go to heaven in fact he's saying the exact opposite the way that you know heaven has gotten into you as you forgive let it go easier said than done so I think we should pray father would you teach us the meaning of this text would you help me to rightly divide the word of truth but God this is not an information dump session my aim is not to say it means it means it means let's go home no God as my grandmother used to say help me to put shoe leather on this text to mine the deep truths here and to show us the way in which we not they but we are to walk in it may we be a forgiving people who know the joys of being free of the shackles of bitterness and unforgiveness set the captives free today we pray in Jesus name Amen his name was Charles Roberts the fourth 32 years old deeply disappointed with God in life you know what that definition of disappointment is don't you disappointment can be defined as the gap between expectations in real time experiences we call that disappointment here's here's Charles Roberts the fourth and he's got some expectations over here of what he thinks should be happening in his life but we all know that life oftentimes doesn't run according to script so he's expecting some things here and yet he's experiencing things over here and that chasm is disappointment so we can't live with a disappointment true story so several years ago he he decided to take his disappointment out on God by specifically attacking the local god-fearing community known as the Amish his plot that day was horrific he was gonna barge in to the local Amish schoolhouse sexually assault young girls and then murder them he bought his paraphernalia sat down and wrote his suicide note got in his car drove down the road barged into the local Amish schoolhouse praise God mercifully someone called the cops and sold moments later he hears the sirens now he's got to expedite the plan so he doesn't assault them sexually instead he just unloads round after round after round on ten ten-year-old girls five of them die instantaneously the other five are now clinging for dear life they're in the hospital word begins to seep out that this Amish community doesn't have medical insurance so as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turn into months their bills are starting to mount as word gets out to the global village that is the world it's at this point that something beautiful happens an astounding act of generosity we end up donating this Amish community who was grieving 4.3 million dollars over what they needed so the elders now have a problem on their hands what do they do with the excess they call a meeting together they banter back and forth different ideas of of what they should do with the money and and finally finally in the midst of the meeting someone says what about the widow Charles Roberts the fourth committed suicide we hear he's got a widow and some kids who will look after them who will take care of them who will provide for them to meet decided what they were to do they marched over to the widow of the one who had inflicted so much harm in pain on their community wrote her a check for 1 million dollars embraced her hug they said we forgive we hold no grudge take care of your family local reporter couldn't believe what he saw somewhat offended shoved a microphone in this local Amish elders face and he said forgive me I remind you what but their late husband did to you how can you forgive it I love this Amish leaders response shrugged his shoulders when asked the question how could he forgive and he says because I'm Christian that's what Christians do we forgive if the Insignia of the world is vengeance then the badge of the believer is forgiveness if you really want to know and test the veracity and validity of your salvation if you really want to know if you are sho enough saved how do you handle folk who've messed over and wrong to you I don't even need to call for a show of hands here all of us right now into the sound of my voice we all have folk in our lives that if we were on fire and they had a glass of water not only would they not pour it on it they would drink it in front of us slowly oh yeah oh yeah some of y'all in this church feel that way about me that's fine that's fine it's the truth of life you keep inhaling and exhaling long enough you will have as they say down the way your haters sometimes it's deserved many times its undeserved but you keep living in this fallen world and you will encounter people in your life who betrayed you for some of you it's a it's a father who's not even worthy of that title walked out on you in your formative years made promises to you he never kept others of you it's a mother others of you it's a father in law it's a mother in law someone it's a co-worker who who's just going out of their way to be mean and rude and nasty to you others of you maybe you were victimized sexually harassed maybe even assaulted let me stop right here this message is not about reconciliation forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things you can forgive without being reconciled but you can't be reconciled without forgiving reconciliation I think I'm going too fast reconciliation takes two it takes two people to have a healthy relationship that's why the Bible gives us a loophole when it comes to reconciliation Romans 12:18 tells us as as you can I love that as best as you can be at peace with all people I love that because what Paul is saying by way of implication is sometimes you try your best to make that thing work it's just then working it it just ain't working yeah you you've tried it with your ex you you you you tried it with that friendship that's going wrong you've done everything you can to salvage it in fact I think I can just stop right here right now and send you a quick text message God's word to someone is you've tried enough you've you've done enough now trust me with it sit back stop popping Maalox stop popping Tom's get a good night's rest cuz you've done your best there comes a point where you keep on trying now you're giving your pearls to swine that's another message for another time so I want you understand me this word is not about should you get back with your ex hear me on that don't you run out of here saying pastor told me to call you I know ain't been calling you for a while can we get back together no no no no no no no no and some of you have been wrong to the point where hear me you can forgive someone don't listen to this you can forgive someone while taking them to court I'm being serious about this do you know two of God's attributes are he's a forgiving God and a just God God says vengeance is mine so I can forgive you and let God take vengeance right been times in my marriage Corrine I have had these marital realignment sessions arguments oh I just call it what it is and sometimes she'll say that's okay okay I'm gonna let God deal with it brothers brothers if you do something to your wife and the best she can say is that's okay that's okay don't don't don't don't sleep in the bed that night go to the local Holiday Inn or something but I want you to hear me while there's a loophole to reconciliation there is no loophole to forgiveness reconciliation takes to forgiveness takes one this text here mean this word is not about reconciliation it's about forgiveness here we go Matthew 18 is all about relationships read it sometime back in Matthew chapter 18 round up verse 15 Jesus is teaching and he says look if your brother sins against you watch it I love this go and tell him his fault between you and him alone I love that if someone wrongs you don't hold a prayer meeting on him now I'm serious because because some of y'all with what you call prayer is really gossip I'm being serious about that what Jesus saying is I want you to have something called relational courage sit down and have the conversation see some of y'all y'all aren't even there and it's really sin when something happens to you some of you all are stuffers and you just stuff and stuff and stuff and stuff and stuff and be phony about at the same time hey girl how you doing and you're stuffing and you're stuffing and you're stuffing that's what al Green's wife did she cook some grits that night google it God says when something happens to you yeah now now be careful there's some things you need to get over right away but for me if it's a couple of days later and it's still messing with me that usually means I need to have a conversation with somebody III need to sit down and we just got it we just got to work this thing out I'm not trying to gossip about you I don't need to call the pastor about you because oftentimes this thing you know I've worked on Church staffs hadn't happened to me here yet but I'm working on one church staff and this one guy kept talking to me about another guy on staff and about the second time I said hey man I appreciate that but let's just follow Matthew 18 you need to have a conversation with him well he comes back to me a couple weeks later talk about this guy gets his look last time next time you come to me about this guy what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna create an awkward moment because I'm gonna take your hand I'm gonna walk you down the hall here open up his door and say he needs to talk to you about some it's gonna be an awkward moment but I'm not here to facilitate your cowardice [Applause] so don't become a receptacle for someone else's garbage see this this stuff is toxic in the church and because we don't handle it the right way now folk who don't know Jesus come in the door and they see all this mess and they walk out the doors and never come back in preach pastor preach preach so now we come to our text I love this I love our boy Peter watch how this text opens up first 21 Peter is still stuck back in verse 15 I love it Peter says now now in the women Jesus women wait a minute how many times I love it love it will my brother's sin against me and I forgive him stop right there now you would think if you asked Jesus a question you would give him time to answer not Peter not our boy Pete Pete asked Jesus a question and before Jesus can even answer Peter supplies his own answer Jesus how many times will my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him I love it he goes as many as seven times and he has to be smiling what he says is why because the rabbi's don't miss this the rabbi's in in Peters day they taught you only had to forgive three times so here's Peter he takes the number three multiplies it times two adds one for good measure to land on the number of perfection and completion he fix he's being generous as many as seven times watch what Jesus does no Peter I do not say seven times but seventy times seven now some of y'all are about to shout because that's 490 times you're like oh praise the Lord cuz this person in my life they own 489 stay home 489 praise the Lord 1 what do something else do something else and I am done we all know what Jesus is doing here he's not being literal he's employing a grammatical device called hyperbole he's exaggerating to make a point so like me telling one of my teenage boys I've told you a million times take out the trash now that may be true actually but what am I saying here I'm exaggerating to make a point we should be past this I've talked to you about this over and over I'm exaggerating to make a point what does Jesus point here here's what he's saying your horizontal forgiveness of one another is to know no limitations because the vertical forgiveness that you have received from God in Christ has no statute of limitations his point is keep forgiving and keep forgiving and keep forgiving and by the way if you've been keeping count you ain't forgiven that's his point to be found in Christ Jesus means we are habitual serial forgivers now the story he's made the point now the story he tells the story of a man who has found himself in dead I wanted you to underline the phrase ten thousand talents that's a doozy of an amount fact scholars it's interesting to read scholars talk about how much that amount really is some scholars say at one talent is a year's worth of salary one scholar says what this man owes is millions of dollars another scholar says billions of dollars Dale Bruner says tongue-in-cheek it's zillions of dollars let me put in perspective how much this amount is in Jesus's day the annual budget for the region of Galilee was three hundred talents this man owes 10,000 gallons you talk about predatory lending you talk about a ridiculous interest rate what this man owes is like putting America's debt to China on one person and he says please be patient with me and I will pay you everything is you crazy now verse 27 and out of pity for him the master of that servant released him released him released him and forgave him his debt I want to teach three things about forgiveness and we're out of here first thing forgiveness is always irrational but doesn't have a little bit of crazy to it it ain't forgiveness forgiveness will always have a crazy aspect to it so you see what I want to say to this guy is I understand he can't pay you back everything but but he could have paid you back something for you to just simply let it go everything that's crazy for you to just say I'm releasing you uh-uh I'm done with it that is completely crazy but that's the point forgiveness is irrational is this a safe place for me I want to confess my sins you I love mafia movies and pray for me pray for me pray for me I love I love them and as a black person I shouldn't love them coz if you've ever watched a mafia movie they had a black person in it you knew he had about two minutes of screen time and he was dead he was dead I just I loved it if you ever saw Goodfellas with Samuel Jackson he had about two minutes two minutes in that movie but one of my favorite ones is called The Untouchables based on a true story starring Kevin Costner and Sean Connery and and they're about to raid Al Capone's a safe house and right as it about to go in Sean Connery stops Kevin Costner it's in the limit limit we're about stir up a hornet's nest here and he was gonna go down we're gonna get into a fight with Al Capone's men if they pull a knife out on us we pull a gun out on them if they send one of ours to the hospital we send one of theirs to the morgue that's the Chicago Way tit for tat back and forth up the ante you get me I get you back that's the Chicago Way my fear is that the Chicago Way has crept into many of our hearts and for most of us it's passive-aggressive most of us are way too cool to let you know you hurt me that's what happens is now that you've hurt me prior to the offence if you called me I'd call you right back all right pick up or I'd text right back but but now post the offence all of a sudden praise God for caller ID and we begin to emotionally moonwalk we don't pick up the phone give you the silent treatment many of us are silent assassins when it comes to relationships now we can dress that up all we want but call it what it is it's unforgiveness CS Lewis and the moving passage says this to be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable and you this is hard it is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single great injury but to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law the bullying husband the nagging wife the selfish daughter the deceitful son how can we do it only I think by remembering where we stand by meeting our words when we say in our prayers each night forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us we are offered forgiveness on no other terms to refuse it is to refuse God's mercy for ourselves there is no hint of exceptions and God means what he says giving us his irrational secondly forgiveness is costly but doesn't cost it's not forgiveness again I want to save this guy for you to just let this debt completely go you know the financial implications of that you are literally out of money you feel it financially for you to just release him for you to just let it go it costs you something Tim Keller says it this way he says forgiveness is a suffering what does he mean by that here's what I think he means when you wronged me and I i wronged you back either by withholding communication withholding the relationship whatever it may be what am i doing in my Adamic fallen nature I am trying to inflict suffering on you but when you wronged me and I refused to go the way of the flesh but I actually leaned on the Spirit of God to forgive you that inflicts suffering not on you but on my flesh but it puts me in the company of Jesus who on the cross said Father forgive them for they know not what they do yeah it hurts to forgive Corrie ten Boom knew this you've never read her classic book the hiding place please read it I commend it to you Corrie ten Boom spent years in a Nazi concentration camp not because she was a Jew but because her family harbored Jews while there her sister was brutally murdered and there was a security guard who played a role in that years later she gets out she's preaching at a church at the end of preaching there's a guy walking down the aisle he's saying Corey Corey I am a Christian now will you forgive me it was the guard who murdered her sister listen to what she says I had to do it I knew that the message that God forgives has a prior condition that we forgive those who have injured us Jesus helped me I prayed silently I can lift my hand I can do that much you supply the feeling I love this what is she saying I don't feel like forgiving so woodenly mechanically I thrust my hand into the one outstretched to me and as I did an incredible thing took place the current started in my shoulder raced down my arms sprang into our joint hands and then this healing warrant seemed to flood my whole being bringing tears to my eyes I forgive you brother I cried with all my heart for a long moment we we grasped each other's hands former guard and the former prisoner listen to what she says I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then I love I love I love this first thing she says is I didn't feel it if you only forgive when you feel like it you will never forgive check that box if you only forgive when you feel like it it ain't gonna happen what does she do love the realness she says I don't feel like it but I'm going to allow my faith to override my feelings sometimes in going through life's difficult circumstances you've got to always let what you know Trump how you feel sometimes you got to preach to your feelings and get your feelings to line up in formation behind the Holy Spirit in God's will look I know this sensitive subject I know there's a million good reasons why you should still hold a grudge against your father I know there's a million good reasons why you should still hold a grudge against your ex-wife or your ex-husband and I'm not here to debate that Cory says I never here's what she's saying there was dimensions of God I didn't know I was missing out on until I forgave let's go home on this one forgiveness is irrational secondly it's costly but thirdly it's freeing watch what happens this man has has America's debt to China on him in a fit of cray-cray the king lets him go watch what this joker does he finds someone the text says who owes him 100 denarii how much that is a few dollars starts choking him pay what you owe word gets back to the king and the King says are you kidding me we send you a quick text message that's exactly what God's saying to some of us God who's the king in this text it not God saying this now let me get this straight every sin you've ever committed are committing and will ever come in I've covered under the blood of Jesus let me get that straight and you won't talk to her because of gossip I love it God says now if you want to get out fit the accounting books we take them out you've been on porn 300 times but you ain't speaking to him or you ain't speaking to her because one time she slandered you I can see you guys saying is that how we roll around here because if I did you the way you're doing him you wouldn't have made it up first day I want to be careful I say this forgiveness won't watch it now when he's forgiven he's set free when he refuses to forgive he's thrown back in jail we wanna be careful how I say this forgiveness is the greatest gift that you can give to yourself two stories and I'm done when I was in Bible College listen don't don't don't get caught up in the illustration there's a point when I was in Bible College 19 years old what am I one of my knucklehead classmates called me the n-word this is not a illustration on race just just here for what it is i bottled that thing up didn't deal with it I checked the box stop speaking to him thought I was hurting him three years later I graduate end up going to work and my Godfather's Church was which was a chocolate church said praise God I'm gonna be around chocolate people for the rest of my life that's it had to learn the hard way God loves it when you tell him what you will and won't do with your life some three years at the chocolate church then God calls me to go work on staff as the first black pastor at a vanilla Church in Pasadena God loves it when you tell him what you will and won't do with your life and I walked into that church like Jonah walked into Nineveh I said I'm gonna set these folks straight my first sermon there I preach and I invite all my buddies from the chocolate church they came over to support me after service I thought I thought I thought my little message went well after service we sitting at lunch and they tear into me they said what was that so we Zama they said for 45 minutes we watched you beat these people up with the Bible you were angry you were bitter we don't know that guy the more I thought about it the more they were right my refusal to forgive had given a person in a one-time incident a power a life-altering personality power over my life he wasn't meant to have I thought I was hurting him when in reality I was hurting me see here's what happens when you don't forgive when you don't forgive you make a choice forgiveness is releasing when you don't forgive it's the opposite you choose imma hold on to this I'm holding on to this I'm holding on the fact that daddy wasn't there I'm hold on to the fact that she walked out on me I'm hold on to the fact that he got sucked about me I'm holding on to the fact that this happened i'ma hold on to it there now call what it is you chose that but now watch it don't you think for a moment that this choice doesn't have life-altering impacts because when I choose to hold on to this it affects my relationship to God because here I am choosing to hold on to this and I can only get so far I'm gonna tearing stuff up I can only get so far in my relationship with Christ do you know what Jesus said Jesus says if you are in worship and you know there's a relationship with somebody that ain't right Jesus says stop your worship leave your gift I love this as a pastor leave your gift at the altar I love that love that and go make it right John says it this way how can you claim to love God whom you can't see and sit up and hate your brother whom you do see so when you hold on to stuff please understand this you will only get so far you will only get so close to Christ but watch this you choose to hold on to stuff Here I am trying to have a relationship with Xavier I can only get so close to people because something happens in you with unforgiveness and you start checking boxes in which you say I can't trust so-and-so I can't go back there I can't I can't I can't and that hinders your ability to be vulnerable to be authentic but if you want to get free you gotta make up in your mind [Applause] I'm done I want you to live the blessed life I want you to have everything that God has ordained for you to have I want you to experience dominions excuse me dimensions of your relationship with God that you never thought was possible but your starting point only happens when you learn to let that thing go I want to pray right now I want to pray right now hear me some of y'all have no idea what this means I'm about to say to you this church has been through incredible hurt and let's say the ones who hurt us in the split were completely wrong let's just say that God will not bless abundant life to the degree in which he should be blessed if you are still holding on to stuff that happened with the other pastor in the folk who left we're gonna hit a ceiling if there's unforgiveness in the camp so we've got to learn as a church to let it go and in your own life if you want to flourish you got to forgive and watch it for some of y'all the main person you need to be able to forgive is yourself are you hearing that today listen God says as far as the east is from the west is as far as I have removed your sins from you some of you all are still stuck on stuff God has forgotten about God's moved on but the enemy still has you stuck so on to pray if you're here today and as I was preaching the Holy Spirit literally brought people to mind where there's issues of unforgiveness I want to pray for you would you come to the altar literally as I was preaching there were faces that were coming to mind literally literally literally holy spirit just popped up images popped up faces I want to pray for you I want to pray for you I want to pray for you literally literally literally literally God's word is going forth and there's faces there's images that are coming to mind Holy Spirit's been tapping you on the shoulder popping up popping up popping up popping up today God wants you to let it go and today God wants you to know the freedom that is yours in Christ Jesus literally literally Holy Spirit's been just bringing images to mind images to mind stuff that you thought was buried stuff that you thought you'd got past God says today I want you to be free today I want you to know the freedom that is yours in Christ Jesus still coming still coming still coming still coming still coming still coming still coming God says today I'm tired of you only coming so close to me I've got so much more for you but that can only happen when you learn to release it when you learn to let it go would you come would you come would you come still coming still coming still coming still coming still coming stretch your hands who are those who are here at the altar and I want to pray for you right now in the name of Jesus father I bless each person here Lord God and I can say I know what what this is like God I know unfortunately what it's like to go through prolonged seasons in my life of unforgiveness Lord God I know what that's like I know it that's like I know what it's like to not only be hurt but to harbor the hurt and to not let it go Lord God so I'm not here minimizing the offense I'm not here in a flippant way saying get over it or God the hurt is real and I want your people to hear me as pastor say that Lord God the stuff that we've gone through some of it is even unspeakable Lord Jesus the way we've been wronged in the way we've put our heart out to other people and to see them walk over it Lord God the stuff that we've been called Lord God the way that we've been treated and in the way we've been talked about Lord Jesus Lord God we've had foot walk out on us for no reason at all Lord God on and on and on it goes but but here's what I can say for myself I think if the same call was given at other churches there would be people standing at the altar whom I've wronged so we can't sit up here and act like we're perfect and yet we're here today because of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ so God we go on record first of all saying thank you thank you thank you for forgiving everything I've ever done am doing and will ever do god that blows our minds that you are a forgiving god and may we never lose of that Lord God that we don't have it all together Lord God what great is your mercy towards us Lord Jesus now Lord God having received your forgiveness god I don't want to monopolize it may I be a conduit of your forgiveness in the name of Jesus help me to dispense your forgiveness to other people so I pray right now in the name of Jesus for each person here Lord God that you would give them the courage you would give them the strength Lord God to to send the text message to send the email to have the cup of coffee to have the lunch to make the phone call and to eke out those three words I I forgive you I let it go I I forgive you dad I forgive you mom I forgive the ex wife I forgive the ex husband I forgive that business partner who stabbed me in the back I forgive that co-worker I forgive that student I forgive that ex girlfriend I forgive that ex boyfriend I I forgive you Lord Jesus God that they would know that freedom right now that they would know that Liberty right now that you Jesus have come to supply and I pray a corporate act of forgiveness over this house god abundant life has been through so much going through the turmoils of a church split Lord God and yes there were dimensions in which we were wrong but I pray that there would not be a shred of unforgiveness in this house so father God we we pray this would helps me to to get forgiveness in my own spirit i pray blessings on our enemies i pray blessings on those who have wronged us I play pray blessings over those who have messed over us prosper them Lord God bless them so father finally I pray that in the Lord's Prayer you taught us it's a daily prayer Lord God we are are to forgive our debtors I got to pray that daily Lord God sometimes the hurt runs so deep it's not a one-and-done prayer I got to keep praying and keep praying and keep praying and keep praying and Lord God in that act of praying would you just would you just meet us when we know that Liberty and would we know that freedom is in the name of Jesus we pray this amen and amen get ready for the Global Leadership Summit which takes place on Thursday August 9th and Friday August 10th right here at a LCF via satellite this year's theme is everyone has Intimus which ties nicely to ALCS goal of equipping you to positively influence others in your community and to share the good news about Jesus Christ and any place at the right place whether it's at home on the job at school or at church you have a great opportunity to share your personal testimony influence others and help lead them towards a new walk with the Lord this year's event includes 12 summit faculty from the private religious business and nonprofit sectors make plans to join a LCF family along with over 400,000 Christians for more than 135 countries and experience a unique blend of vision inspiration and practical skills that you can apply immediately to sign up go to ALCS net slash GLS 18 and use a special priority code rate for covenant partners located in the printed copy of your current newsletter as you look forward al CF has a goal for sending out every covenant partner on a mission strip by the end of 2020 so if you're looking to really extend your sphere of influence join Glen : and rich young this summer as they partner with established ministries in both Mexico and Zambia to advance the great work that the Lord is already doing in those for more information about these two unique and life-changing opportunities go to a ocf net slash global emissions and speaking of unique opportunities you don't have to wait to Sunday to connect with the a LCF community worship night is a midweek gathering to worship the Lord through song prayer and a message from Pastor Brian please join us for our next worship night on Wednesday June 6th from 615 to 8 p.m. we'll meet up in the fellowship hall for an abbreviated great family gathering followed by worship which begins promptly at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary remember please bring a dessert or beverage to share with the LCF family and if you're not already pod the AL CF family we'd love for you to join us there are events but if you're looking for a church home and want to know more about our history mission and core values sign up for our next exploring covenant partnership event on Sunday June 10 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the chapel you can register at Al CF net slash signups or through the AL CF app ok get ready for shipwrecked a fun and exciting week of adventure for our 3 through 11 year olds your kids will journey to an uncharted island where they'll learn how they can anchor to the truths that bring them through life's mini storms our voyage sets sail on the week of June 11 through the 15th here at Al CF from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. each day to donate serve or register go to Al CF net slash signups or visit the contributor station after service now if you're like many of our Sunday worshipers you're probably ready for lunch by the time church ends on Sundays but on June 24th we've got you covered after service take just a few short steps out into the main parking lot and join us for our seasonal food truck fellowship from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. we'll have live jazz music chocolate rice and food available for purchase from a select group of food trucks offering a variety of delicious food come hang out with the entire a LCF community and this fun family event and finally make plans to join us during our hour of power on Friday June 29th from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Chaplin it promises to be an impactful hour of worship and praising God as we come together to pray for our families our body of believers and for our country now these are just some of the upcoming ALCS events and activities but to stay connected to everything that is a LCF check out our website at wide weekly emails newsletter and social media and remember at a LCF our goal is to make a difference in your life so that you can make a difference in the lives of the people in your sphere of influence or as we like to say around here abundant life exists to make a better youth for a better world

Channel: Abundant Life Christian Fellowship

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Length: 62min 20sec (3740 seconds)

Published: Tue May 22 2018