The Greatest Words Never Spoken

Opening Framework:

I hope you’re excited about what God is doing right now at Crossroads…

(Word’s Of Life Series Intro)

Scripture: John 8 : 1-11

Message Title: The Greatest Words Never Spoken

Prayer

Transition Statement

Me: Story about just how the kid’s always “forgive” or “apologize”

They are so bad at acting

They say something with their lips but they totally do something different

We: How often do we do the same thing?

Today we’re talking about forgiveness… It’s huge. You biblically cannot know God without forgiveness...

But so many of us carry unforgiveness without even realizing it

We say we’ve moved on but we deep down… we hold onto whatever happened...

Maybe it’s the person who criticizes your parenting instead of supporting it...

With your spouse, you say everything is fine but you REALLY havn’t let go of whatever happened...

Or we’re still carrying something from the past like a relationship, friendship, or someone that let you down… you say your over it but it still dwells on you....

OR… Or we say the right words on the outside but still carry bitterness, guilt, or shame on the inside aimed towards ourselves. Because ultimately we struggle to really believe we’re forgiven.

Most of us live somewhere in that tension

Romans 3:23-24 - States that all have sinned AND all are justified through Jesus Christ

So all of us have fallen short, but every single one of us can be made right with God because of what Jesus did. You in this room… or the person you struggle to forgive The person you judge. The people that don’t look like you or act like you And even the people that hate God and despise what we do in here.

And it doesn’t matter where you fall on that list...

God: One word from God can speak to all of us regardless where we are in that tension… and that’s what happens here

John 8:2-3 - Pharisees, Scribes, … & a woman in shame

Yet in their differences they didn’t realize they were equal, none can stand - Psalm 130:1-4 -

John 8:4-6 - So they tempt Jesus but He changes everything

We don’t know what he was writing (scripture, their names, their sins)… But whatever it was it hit them hard.

John 8:9 They left based on how long they've had to do wrong

John 8:10-11 Jesus offers grace… He means business (sin no more), but covered in grace...

You:

Church people: Let’s not forget the grace freely given to us so that we don’t cast stones at others.

I’m not saying not to call out sin… Jesus clearly told her sin no more. And I’ll be the first to say that we live in a world where we shouldn’t be afraid to say it like it is...

YET… it’s so easy to cast stones and forget that we are all on equal playing field when it comes to needing God’s grace.

Or you’re the one standing their full of shame: Waiting for stones to come your way. Picking up stones yourself to hit yourself with, because when you look in the mirror you see a porn addict, an alcoholic, someone who is bitter, someone who judges others quickly, maybe someone who no one knows what you’re really going through or struggling with... There is grace for you. No one is condemning you—and neither is God.

So what about you? Because everyone in that circle had a choice, and so do we.

Regardless of where you are Jesus makes it clear that you don’t need to pick up stones… you need to get down because that’s where you meet others.

And if you’re the one in the middle down, I want you to know that’s where God often does the best work.

We:

So what kind of people are we going to be? We’ve all held stones before—and we’ve all been the one standing in the middle

Some of you grew up knowing all the right bible verses, and some of you are still figuring this whole Jesus thing out. BUT in this church we don’t throw stones… We point to the one who saved all of us when we deserved stones.

What if we didn’t just preach grace but we fully lived it out. What if we didn’t say “Sin no more” with judgement… but we said it low… on our hands and knees helping others… full of tears, compassion, and open arms.

Let’s be that kind of people, that kind of church. Full of truth… but full of grace and always pointing to the one who wrote forgiveness into dirt.

Alter Call: So Jesus says one of the biggest statements in the Gospels without even saying anything… And the words still impact us today...