"Forgiving Others In The Church" | Matthew 18:21-25

“Forgiveness: Your Health Depends on It”

Illustration: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/forgiveness-your-health-depends-on-it

Massage focus: Family(church) forgiveness

We are a community of believers, centered in Christ, and inspired by the Gospel. We seek to nurture each person’s faith through joyful worship, supportive fellowship, and active outreach ministries, so that all may experience the deeper peace of God in their lives.

One thing you must notice in this statement is we are a church “focus on Christ and people” in the church and outside.

OPEN TO GOD

To accomplish our mission, we must be open to God’s presence, His power, Spirit and blessings. As we work together with our different gifts as a church we will offend/ sin against each others.

“If all Christians were perfect, there would be no need for these instructions, but because we fail and sin, we need to know how to keep the church family happy and holy.”

Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 68.

True Forgiveness

The first step to “keeping the church family healthy, happy and holy” is True Forgiveness.

Since we are centered in Christ we must forgiveness without limit , why? it honor God and promotes God’s presence and salvation.

True forgiveness recognizes God unlimited grace poured out on us and because we are forgiven people we must honor the Lord and forgive others who sin against us.

We can not nurture each other faith with unforgiveness in our hearts.

We can not joyfully worship God together with the spirit of unforgiveness

We can not have an active outreach ministry that share the love of Christ in our community with hatred in our hearts.

Leviticus 19:17

“Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.”

-A nurse unforgiveness will grow into hate, hostility and disunity and dysfunction in the church and our inter-personal relationship with each other. Christ instruct the community of believers to deal with sin head-on, we must not ignore sin, trivialize it or pretend it never happen.

Closing Thoughts

Lets remember that Jesus was speaking to his disciples, the early believers. Christ is the owner off the Church, therefore the church must centered on Christ for the grace to keep forgiving, sometime the same people over and over.

Finally, know, Christ will not ask you to do something he has not done or the grace to empower you to do.

Jesus demonstrated great mercy on the cross when he said “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” - Luke 23:34