The Kingdom of God (4)
The Kingdom Of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Please stand for the reading of God word. Today we read from Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?”
“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.
“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
“At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’ Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. “That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’
“At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”
Pray with me. Go ahead and have a seat.
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We continue our study on the Kingdom of God - where we are exploring the reality that the Gospel is more than just soteriology, or being saved - but it is living the reality of God on the throne, living under the rule and reign and will of God. And wherever God is, there is life, and freedom, and joy, and love.
One of the underlying thoughts through this study is the uncomfortable dissonance of the already and not yet of the Kingdom of God. Most who would describe themselves as Christians are comfortable with the idea of them being saved in the after life - or the future of what will come. But the hard part is for a lot of people - it seems like the gospel doesn’t penetrate into the here and now.
So we get salvation for then, and maybe some hope for today. But life change, power, joy, transformation - well we don’t know what to do with that. We don’t know whether or not to expect it.
And so sometimes we have sort of a fatalistic faith that helps us get ready to die - but doesn’t really change our life. (and sometimes we prefer this. We are much more comfortable with a God that doesn’t want to mess up our lives).
And from this dissonance springs all sorts of trouble, pain, and sorrow. Where we see the hypocrisy of believers - who proclaim freedom and new life, and then nurture hidden sins and have great scandals. Where others cognitively affirm a creed in their mind, but their lives and in their hearts feel dis-integrated from what they affirm.
The radical claim of Christ is that the Kingdom of God is at hand. And therefore we should change the way we live to live in the kingdom now. The radical claim means that life and life abundant and eternal begins here. The question is: do you want it?
And if we are honest - sometimes the answer is no. Remember the parable of the sower - sometimes we got some important stones in our life that just don’t allow for the word of God to take root.
One of the stones in many peoples lives is wanting to be the judge of others. We don’t want to let God be the Judge and trust him, we want to take it in our own hand. But God and the work and word of Christ just ooze of grace and compassion and forgiveness.
But being hurt, being offended is a part of the world right now. People regularly have enemies or perceived enemies. And so when JEsus preached things like: Matthew 5:43-44
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Man that’s counter cultural for every culture.
Like - Jesus you don’t understand - this guy really messed me up. And he’s evil. I don’t want to love him, I wanna smack him.
This message of forgiveness is central to the Gospel - and one the seems to not penetrate into our hearts. Unforgiveness is the norm in our culture. And even the disciples struggled with it. Enter Peter in Matthew 18:21
Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?”
Peter is hearing all the talk of Jesus about forgiving and enemy-love, and turning the other cheek rather than getting revenge, and you can see his a bit overwhelmed, and he asks: okay okay - but what if he doesn’t change? What if I forgive my brother and he does it again - and again - and again - how many times am I supposed to let him walk all over me and “forgive” him before I SMACK HIM? Like If I forgive him seven times and they still mess up, can I get off the hook and hate the guy?
Peter probably thought that seven times is a lot of times.
And Jesus response must have made Peter’s jaw drop: Matthew 18:22
“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.”
It’s important to point out that Jesus wasn’t saying that once you forgive someone 490 times then you’re good to hate them and be bitter.
He seems to be sayings that counting is missing it. It’s not about a balance book - it’s not legalism - it’s about having a forgiving heart. A heart that is not focused on the harm done, or the sin - but one that having received the Grace of Christ from God can give grace to everyone else. The heart of Flesh in Ezekiel 36:26 that comes from the regeneration of the Spirit of God.
Jesus is beginning to say that to live in the Kingdom of God is to forgive regularly, routinely, and perhaps most scandalously, easily. The Fallen world operates with Unforgiveness - The Kingdom operates with forgiveness.
And so Jesus then goes into a parable to illustrate the kingdom principle of Forgiveness. Look at Matthew 18:23-25
“For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
Jesus introduces us to a king - who apparently has allowed his servants to borrow from him, and he calls on his debt - and here comes who owes ten thousand talents. Okay - 1 talent is equivalent to about 6000 denarii - so for the average laborer, one talent is about 20 years labor. So this is just an unbelievable unfathomable amount of money.
In todays money - if I did my math right, the average annual salary in the US before benefits is around $65,000. one talent is 20 x that, so ten thousand talents is 13,000,000,000 (thirteen BILLION dollars). IN DEBT! Dave Ramsey just let out a scream somewhere.
Obviously, this guy doesn’t have that kind of money - and so his family is sold to pay for the debt. This is bizarre today, but throughout human history was very common - debtors prisons were common into the early 1800’s and before that if you couldn’t pay up, you’d be sold as a slave till you paid off your debt - and in this case, let’s be real - with a debt this big - it may as well be forever.
What happens? verse 26-27:
“At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’ Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
The servant throws himself at the grace and mercy of his master - asking for patience. And he is met with the most radical generosity.
He was forgiven. Why? because of his compassion. He’s a good master!
Willard points out that we witness the power of asking in the Kingdom in this interaction. The king forgave the servant simply because of the contrite ask. God answers prayers because we ask. Willard writes this and I find it profound:
It’s as though the king said, “I forgave you everything because you wanted me to.” - Dallas Willard; The Scandal of the Kingdom
Like God’s heart is towards kindness and forgiveness and compassion - and he just wants us to ask. Do you believe that? That’s a deep question to ponder.
Could you imagine the weight off the servants shoulders? One would expect him to be a changed man, right? Well - look at verse s28-29
“That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’
“At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
The anger comes out - the servant, even though was forgiven much - still feels owed that hundred denarii. And the difference is stark - 100 denarii -about a third of a years wages, so call it 20,000 dollars. I mean a great sum - but having just been forgiven billions?
He’s so angry he starts choking the other servant. And this fellow servant falls down - just like the first one, and begs - Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.
This is the same phrase as before when the king forgave the great debt. And what did he do? verse 30:
But he wasn’t willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.
Straight to debtors prison. and at face value - that is indeed just. He owed the money. He ought to pay it.
Our thoughts are so naturally unforgiving that we often don’t realize how unforgiving we are. Especially when it comes to past wounds that we hold on to. Subtle grudges and bitterness. We don’t think that we are not forgiving - we just think: “It is what it is.” And sometimes that bitterness and unforgivness passes down for generations and even nations - where people are angry at each other and hate each other - for an offense that they never fully felt.
Revenge is one of our favorite genres, and most of us crave it. Because we want it to get even. This starts in childhood - One child hits their sibling. So the other hits back - but now the first needs to hit back AGAIN. So whatever is done last seems to be the best - there is no getting even.
Perhaps this servant didn’t even realize how outrageous his behavior was. but others did.
When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.
Of course they were distressed. They report it to the master. Now look at verses 32-34
Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.
The debt has been reinstated. mercy was given, but not extended.
You see - we often LOVE grace and mercy for ourselves - but we don’t like giving it to others. Because it’s costly. And I want what’s mine. And they wronged me!
Jesus summarizes the parable - verse 35
So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”
That is one of the verses that hits hard - because it can rend open our hearts - where we realize that we often times struggle to forgive! And some of us even have like theological objections: “Is God saying my forgiveness is dependent on my forgiving others? Is that not works based righteousness?”
And let’s be real - there are some wretched people! And they do wrong things! And in our flesh all we want to do is get even - and yet Jesus tells peter and therefore us - forgive, forgive forgive. You’ve been forgiven of all your sin - the least you can do is forgive this one sin.
We no longer need to get even - The good news of the Kingdom of Christ is the battle to get even is over. God no longer wants to even the score - instead in Christ - he offers us into the way of life where we don’t need to either. Why? Because Jesus has paid it all. So we don’t need to have the last word, we don’t need to get ahead.
And that is where the key to peace lies - Only when we give up on getting even will peace begin to reign.
We can’t get even with God - Right, our debt to the infinite almighty God of the universe is too great - we could never atone - the wages of sin is death. But because of his Great love for us Christ died for us while we were still sinners reconciling us with God - we can have peace with God won for us at the Cross of Christ. You can’t earn it - but it is given. Peace with God.
And therefore at that salvific moment where we trust in Christ, his holy spirit comes and makes us new - we become a new creation with the ability to live in the kingdom of God and spread that peace to others - because I have been forgiven, I now have the capacity to forgive. I no longer need to get payback - Jesus is more than enough.
Imagine a community that can proclaim the way to salvation from sin, stand with the poor and the oppressed, and welcome the stranger - while enjoying unity and love and compassion in itself. That is what the Church is supposed to be. And yet most churches are not known for their radical forgiveness and love and compassion.
In fact, a lot of times churches are known for people holding grudges, sitting on the sideline and judging, bitter comments and hypocrisy. It’s like the head knowledge of the Gospel of Christ hasn’t sunk down into the bones of the believers.
Because In order to extend forgiveness to others, we need to know how to live by forgiveness ourselves.
Forgiveness from God is just wound up and connected to our compassionate and forgiving hearts towards others.
Some of us hear the master saying unless you forgive my Father will judge you, and we reel. JEsus said it also after he taught the lords prayer in the sermon on the mount: Matthew 6:14-15
“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.”
Some of us read that and we think that we have to earn forgiveness by forgiving. However, as Willard has said in one poignant section is that it isn’t a matter of earning your forgiveness, but receiving it. he writes this: quote:
It’s always important to distinguish between earning and receiving. While you can do nothing to earn your salvation, there is something you can do to receive it, and you’re so much better off for doing it. A Gift is not imposed on you, forced on you, or fastened on you somehow. A gift requires reception. - Dallas Willard; The Scandal of the Kingdom
I believe what Christ is saying is that in order to be the kinds of people that are able to receive the work of God and the forgiveness, we must have a certain soil or heart, and life shaped by God. That means - we need to focus on Christ and what he has accomplished (his life death and resurrection) and then follow him, keeping in step with the Spirit, and time after time step into the rivers of grace and life that come from him - and in that we are able to attain the forgiving heart - even a heart that can accept the forgiveness from God.
I think a lot of people who identify as believers fail to actually receive the forgiveness of God - for they may have mental awareness of it - but no lived reality of forgiveness. They think about it, even acknowledge that forgiveness is in the Cross - but never experience it, never step into it, and therefore also struggle to forgive others.
That’s what Christ is continually calling us to with the Kingdom - Come and live in the reality of Christ as king. Stop following the way of the world - and start following Christ, do what he did, believe what he said - experience the goodness of God in the land of the living.
I say that - experience the goodness of God in the land of the living - and there are perhaps some of you sitting here who just don’t know what I’m talking about. You may even be a believer - but you don’t see the goodness of God. You don’t feel it. You know you’re forgiven in a cognitive sense - but you’ve never felt released from sin. You don’t even know if it’s possible. Doesn’t Pastor Jimmy know that that’s not the way the world works?
Love, joy, peace, patience, hope, faith, grace, and goodness may not be the way the world works, but IT IS the way the kingdom works. And the bold claim again and again of Jesus is that you can taste it NOW.
How? By grace through faith - salvation - the gospel - and by receiving the love of Christ. 1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
Just like love - we forgive because he first forgave us.
In churches around the world and the in the midwest - there are many hard, grumpy, bitter, unloving, and unkind people. And sometimes they are people who know the bible better than most. I’d submit that these people often do not feel the love of God, and perhaps have never felt and experienced the reality that God is so generous and that nothing can separate us from the love of God. It’s only through participation with God, and the new life of God through the work of Cross, that we are able to feel the generosity of God, and therefore be generous with a pure heart.
Out of that generosity flows the love and forgiveness towards those who have offended us.
Perhaps this is why so many followers live and operate as if they have not not been forgiven.
So many of us are still hindered and live under things that happened in the past (whether it was something they did, or often times something done TO them). In so many of our lives, we see ourselves as a trespasser - we did that thing, or that thing happened to us - rather than one who is made pure in the blood of the lamb. Forgiven. Washed. Made new.
Washed, cleansed, forgiven - what gorgeous things to be! Titus 3:4-7
But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
When something is washed - truly washed - the dirt is removed. If I walk barefoot in the dirt, and my feet are covered - they are dirty - when they are washed, my feet remain though the dirt is gone. My feet are no longer dirty - however, so many people live their lives, so many BELEIVERS live their lives as if the dirt is still there!
Perhaps they heard false teaching - perhaps they are out of fellowship with each other and the spirit - or perhaps - it’s because their hearts are unforgiving. And perhaps there is someone in our hearts and lives we are harboring unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, hate. We need to seek God in this.
Because here is what Scripture seems to be clear on in Christ’s teaching - Gods forgiveness of us, and our ability to forgive others in deeply connected with the reality of his indwelling presence.
It seems like Jesus is saying that if we do not forgive others, or if we can’t forgive others - then in some real way - there are places in our heart that God doesn’t occupy. Because if he is present - there is ability to forgive. And if he is present - we can live in the reality of our own forgiveness. The Old is gone - the new has come.
Christ teaches us to pray: “Forgive us our debts AS we forgive our debtors. This is a reality and a totality - forgive our sins AS we forgive others. We forgive because God has forgiven us, and as we are involved in God’s action and household and kingdom - if he is in the forgiving business, so are we.
So What?
So What?
Christ has instituted his kingdom - a kingdom of love and kindness, and grace and mercy and forgiveness. Entrance into the kingdom is through the forgiveness and generosity offered at the cross - and the mark of a citizen of the kingdom is a generous and forgiving heart.
Perhaps one of the reasons we are not in our own lives feeling the love and generosity of the father towards us is because we are harboring bitterness and unforgiveness towards others. This is a war between the flesh and the spirit - and it leads to strife within our bones.
Because Christ came to MAKE peace between God and Man, to end the hostility between man and God and ultimately even between the peoples of the earth too! And that took Jesus absorbing the cost of the offense on himself - so that we can experience peace.
As a rule, especially in churches, we are decent at keeping the peace, rather than making peace. We don’t want to make a scene, we don’t want to be weird, so we just pretend like everything is okay - so that we don’t make something awkward - even though that other person continually crosses our values and has hurt us. They may not even know about it - but the lie from the enemy is that it’s better to just put on a face, pretend that we are good, all the while feeling the animosity toward that person grow.
Instead - Christ wants us to be quick to forgive. to as far as it depends on us, live at peace with all people. To bear with one another out of love - let’s not forget that one of the marks of a true disciple to NON believers is our love for each other. John 13:34-35
“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
By our love for each other - the world will know. And perhaps one of the reasons so many people of the world find us hypocritical is because we have the same broken and tense relationships that they experience out in the world - oftentimes we live no different.
But we are called to be peace makers - children of God.
And that begs the question perhaps - how do we forgive - how do we become the people who desire forgiveness, and how do we forgive people who show no contrition - no ownership that what they have done is wrong? How do we grow in forgiveness? How do we WANT to Want to forgive.
I have been deeply shaped by a lot of voices in this area - from Unhindered, to Steve Cuss’s work on anxiety, but Dallas Willard has just some really practical steps on this kind of work, three steps to take towards forgiveness: cause I know that a lot of people can feel quite a bit of grief when we start talking about forgiveness. We feel the tension because sometimes we feel like we should forgive, or are obligated to. Or maybe would like to move forward in forgiveness, but have no idea how to do so.
First , if someone has harmed you - especially a pretty blatant offense - and you feel tempted to just barge in and give em a peace of your mind -
1 - Focus your mind on something else.
Like a lot of things in the spiritual life - well all life - sometimes attacking a problem head on can be really hard. If your mind is spinning in anger or hurt from someone, go take a beat - go for a walk - go do something to get your mind off it to calm your heart down. because and this leads to number 2
2 - Forgiveness is not a simple matter of willpower.
Yes, our wills are part of it, but habits, anger, strong emotion will eat your willpower for breakfast lunch and dinner. so instead of just going quick and “not paying them back” or forgiving flippantly - focus your mind on Jesus. Fill your mind with how Christ responded to those who mistreated him. set your mind on stories of him. Dwell on the gospels. And you will likely find how your woundedness and and your mind are put into a better place. And then we can
3 - Pray. Acknowledging that without God’s help true forgiveness is impossible.
Ask for god’s grace and strength. Ask for the love and grace to forgive. Admit “Lord I don’t want to, or I don’t even feel like i can forgive this. Change my heart!”
And over time - because Christ is in you, you will find you are able to forgive even people you never thought possible.
And remember -
Forgiveness takes time and doesn’t always remove feelings of hurt and resentment.
Especially with deep wounds - familial wounds - things that cut deep - and from traumas and abuse - we will likely feel deep hurt for a long time - sometimes for the rest of our lives. And while God’s grace is great and healing can come,
we need to recognize that pain is not always bad. God can use evil and pain even for great things and make us more like Christ through them. Think of Joseph in the story of Genesis - where his brothers sell him into slavery, he gets tossed in prison, but eventually works up to be great in egpyt. Then his brothers come to him - and he’s got the power to smack em back - instead he says: Genesis 50:20
You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
you telling me Joseph still didn’t feel the hurt? Of course he did - but he was close to God! So the evil brought about good
Remember - forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting. I’ve seen a ton of people who think that if they still FEEL hurt by the person they forgave they must not ahve forgiven - friend that’s not necessarily true. Because forgiveness means that there is a debt - and instead of making the other person feel the pain - you are absorbing it yourself. It hurts. And it doesn’t mean forgetting - especially because there are some people who do not want to change - and will continue to hurt you whether or not your forgive them. Dallas has a great line on this where he writes:
The mark of forgiveness is not that you no longer hurt; it is that you are no longer preoccupied with the hurt. - Dallas Willard; The Scandal of the Kingdom
For us as a church to be effective on our mission to partner with God in increasing the spiritual temperature of south eastern south dakota - we must be people of the kingdom - we must be people who reflect the generous heart of God and forgive and love - everyone, but ESPECIALLY each other. so we have to be committed to this kingdom life.
And what’s fascinating to me - is both sides of a broken relationship are responsible for reconciliation.
In matthew 18, right before our scritpure reading this morning we get this infamous passage: Matthew 18:15-17
“If your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.
If someone sins against you - go alone first to restore the relatinship - then take a witness - then go to the church, which would be the elders for help. And if there still is no repentance, they are to be removed from the fellowship.
Now we can forgive - but if they continue their sinful behavior - there can still be consequences, and boundaries.
But we just don’t do any of this. We don’t want to be petty - so in stead of talking to the person who offended us, we just go talk to someone else about it to vent.
Y’all - most of the time - if you in love goto someone and say: “Hey this happened - and it really hurt me. Was that your intent, did you know?” MOST of the time - they will respond graciously - if our heart is towards reconcillaiton and love anyway. Most of the time our sins towards each other are not intentional - so by clearning the air we make room for love. By not talking about it - that small wound festers and poisons the whole body.
So if someone sins against you - go to him - but elsewhere in matthew JEsus says this:
So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
So if you’re at church - and you’re gonna enter into worship - give a gift - receive communion - and your remember that YOU have hurt someone, that THEY have something against you - stop and first go to them - THEN go back to worship.
Y’all that’s profound. That’s kingdom stuff.
And when we as the people of God seek to live in the grace and peace of God - that is kingdom impact. That’s when the gospel seeps in and makes a big different.
Forgive one another. Bear with one another in love. Make eveery effort to keep the peace. Mike S shared this scritpure this week as the elders were praying. 1 Peter 4:8
Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.
We MUST love each other. We MUST forgive each other.
And finally - in order to do this it seems we must first be caught up in the love and forgiveness of God ourselves. Perhaps your heart is hardening towards this message. Perhaps you say - okay forgive - but do I AHVE to do that to be saved?
I would just flip it - don’t you want it? Don’t you WANT the kingdom of Chirst in the ehre and now?
There are some of us here who even though the mentally believe in have never felt the forgivness of Christ for their sins. Do you want it? Do you know that there is freedom and life and forgiveness at the cross? It’s hard to feel free to forgive others when you still feel shackled by your sin.
You can receive grace and forgiveness today - right now - at the cross. Perhaps it’s time to repent - perhaps it’s time to trust God. And that will mean confessing sin, and pleading like the servant in the parable - have mercy on my, forgive me my debts - i can never do it by mytslef. Trust in Christ’s blood to atone for you.
And so we will respond - and this is in three ways:
We will have a great song - which is just to give you the space and time to do work with God. And then, we will come back to the table of communion. But before we get there - stop:
If you do not feel the forgivenss of God - if you know it up here, but not down here - I’m going to ask you to come let me pray for you. If you have never come to Christ and asked him to save you, please do so. If you are feeling stunted and need a break through - come up here, and we will pray for you.
Second - if you have something against a brother or sister here - go to them. Give them a hug, talk to them, and make peace.
Third - if you know or think someone ELSE has something against you - go to them, ask them how it can be made right.
And I know what some of y’all are thinking: “Yeah right. not a chance.” Enough of that in the name of Jesus. I don’t want a mental faith that doesn’t make a difference in life. I want the whole gospel. I want the peace. I want the forgiveness. I believe God is real and Christ is alive. And if that’s true then let’s start taking him at his word and doing it.
I don’t care if it makes me look crazy! I care so much more that I am living in the way of Christ then the way of the world. King david danced in his underwear before God - this is so much tamer.
If you need to do work with God, and with others - would we do that now. Would his kingdom come NOW. Would we be saved.
So let’s sing - please sit if you need. Pray. Confess. If you need to be prayed for and confess your sins, I’ll be here. If you need to make peace with others - do it now. Don’t wait.
And then we will take communion in a few minutes.
Let me pray.
