So You Want the Presence?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
How many of us in the room would say, “I need more of the presence of God in my life?”
I’m not just talking about goosebumps during worship — I mean the kind of presence that changes everything.
The nearness of God that brings clarity, healing, conviction, and peace.
This morning, I want to show you a practical, guaranteed way to experience more of God’s presence.
It’s not mystical.
It’s not emotional.
And it’s not just for the spiritually elite — it’s available to anyone in this room, starting today.
Go with me to Matthew 18. We’re going to start in verse 20.
20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
What a powerful verse.
Any place Jesus says He is — that’s a place I want to be.
If He promises His presence, I want to know exactly where to find it.
You’ve probably heard this verse before — it gets quoted all the time.
At prayer meetings. Worship nights. Small groups.
It’s one of those “yes, Jesus” verses.
You know what I mean — you’re in a circle praying, someone quotes it, and right on cue someone chimes in with that soft, “Yes, Jesus… mm, thank you Lord…”
And hey — that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that.
Now — let me just say this upfront:
This might be one of those messages where, about halfway through, someone is going to look at me like,
“Did you read my texts? Have you been spying on my conversations? Who told you?!”
I promise — I didn’t come for anybody.
But if it feels like I did… it’s probably because the Holy Spirit is trying to get your attention.
Because here’s the thing…
We hear this verse and it sounds like it’s about worship.
About prayer.
About feeling close to God.
But what if I told you…
That the place Jesus promises to be present — might just be the very place most of us avoid?
I’ve titled the message this morning:
So You Want the Presence?
pray
Now some of you have probably heard me tell this story before — it happened back in early 2023.
But it fits a little too well in this message.
So I’m out grocery shopping, just doing my usual routine — and listen, it’s no secret:
I’m an introvert. I know who I am.
If you see me at the store and it looks like im intentionally not trying to look at you and pretend I don’t see you thats simply because I am.
I don’t go to the store looking for interaction.
I’m there on a mission: get what I need, check out, and get out. I also have ADHD of course so i need to stay focused. Like this week I leterally bought a 3lb bar of chocolate becase i was talking and it was….there.
So I’m at the scan-and-go checkout, I’ve scanned everything, and I’m just about to pay — when the screen locks up and says:
“A team member is on the way to assist you.”
And I’m like, “Nope. No they’re not. I don’t need assistance. I need to leave.”
But the damage is done. The signal’s been sent. The bots have taken over.
Now again — I’m an introvert, I’m already slightly annoyed, and I’m trying to just hold it together and not look annoyed…
But I am absolutely failing.
This team member walks up and says, “Hi! I just need to do a quick check to make sure everything was scanned.”
And I’m like, “Awesome…”
She starts going line-by-line through every single item in my cart.
Not a quick glance — a full-on audit.
I’m standing there slowly boiling. And then — she stops.
She points to something and says:
“You didn’t scan this.”
I said: “Yes I did.”
She said: “No, you didn’t.”
I said: “I definitely did.”
She goes, “I’m going to have to get my manager. You’re trying to leave without paying for this.”
Then she puts her hand on my cart like she’s guarding the nuclear codes and blocks the exit.
Now I’m officially heated.
The manager comes over and asks what’s going on.
And before I can even explain, she jumps in and says,
“He didn’t scan all his items and is trying to argue about it.”
I finally get a word in and say,
“I scanned that item. It’s right here on the screen.”
The manager checks — and surprise — I was right.
The item had scanned, it just showed up under a different name.
The manager looks at me and says,
“I’m so sorry. This was just a misunderstanding — you’re good to go.”
And I turned to the team member and said — again, not proud of this….maybe I am…“I told you. Now get away from my basket.”
And yeah — that should’ve been the end of it.
But it’s not.
Because to this day — nearly three years later — I still get annoyed when I see her.
To this day she is my arch-nemesis.
I’m not exaggerating.
Just last week — Alyssa and I were out shopping for Thanksgiving, and I saw her.
And you can ask Alyssa — my whole vibe shifted.
My tone. My pace. The grip on the cart.
Like I was ready for round two in the frozen aisle.
I know I need help. I’m working on it.
Sanctification is a process.
At least I put my cart back.
Now I know what you’re thinking….
My pastor is kinda crazy…
and also what in the world does this have to with me getting more of the presence of God in my life?
Here’s the answer:
It has everything to do with it.
Because the presence of Jesus — the one we all say we want
Doesn’t just show up in worship services and peaceful moments.
It shows up in tension. In conflict. In conversations we’d rather avoid.
And that brings us back to the verse we started with.
Matthew 18 but lets go back a few verses...
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Now… be honest with me — do verses 19 and 20 feel a little out of place to you?
Jesus is walking us through what to do when someone sins against us.
He’s teaching us how to handle offense, how to move toward reconciliation — and it’s not easy.
This isn’t a vague idea about forgiveness.
This is real-life stuff:
– someone hurt you
– they won’t own it
– and now you’re having to take it to others
– and even the church
And if they still won’t listen?
Jesus says “let them be to you as a Gentile or tax collector.”
That’s weighty.
This is deep, relational, messy, personal.
And then all of a sudden Jesus says:
“Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done… For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
It sounds like a pivot to prayer. Or a sidebar about worship.
But it’s not.
Jesus is still on the same topic.
He’s not randomly jumping into how to start a prayer night.
He’s saying:
“When two or three of you are gathered to deal with sin, to pursue forgiveness, to reconcile a broken relationship — I’m there. I’m in the middle of that conversation.”
Think about that.
Jesus is present not just in the sanctuary, but in the tension.
He’s not just in the singing. He’s in the awkward, honest, painful conversations we’d rather avoid.
When you’re sitting across the table trying to work things out with someone who hurt you: Jesus is there.
Verses 19 and 20 aren’t about prayer meetings.
They’re about the spiritual authority, accountability, and presence of Christ when His people walk in obedience especially in the hard places.
So Jesus gives this great talk — real, practical teaching about how to handle offense, sin, and broken relationships in the community.
And here comes Peter…
Asking the question every single one of us is thinking:
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
I love Peter.
Because Peter is all of us.
He’s listening to Jesus talk about forgiveness — and you can just feel him doing the math in his head.
Like: “Okay… so at what point am I allowed to be done?”
And what I love — and also kind of hate — is that Peter doesn’t just ask the question straight.
He tries to make his disobedience look spiritual.
“What if I forgive him seven times?”
Come on.
Have you ever done that?
Tried to make something sound holy when really you’re just trying to get out of obedience?
It’s like:
– “I’m not gossiping, I’m just sharing a prayer request…”
– “I’m not bitter, I’m just processing.”
– “I’m not holding a grudge, I just don’t feel called to that relationship anymore.”
Peter’s doing what we all do:
“How close can I get to disobedience while still looking like I’m following Jesus?”
Now, to be fair — forgiving someone seven times does sound generous.
Especially if they keep doing the same thing.
In Peter’s defense, most rabbis at that time taught that you only had to forgive someone three times.
That was the standard.
So Peter’s like:
“Okay, Jesus — I’m about to impress you.”
“Watch this: not three… not four… how about seven?”
“That’ll be good, right? Look how spiritual I am. Look how much better I am than the baseline.”
He thinks he’s being extra holy.
But Jesus isn’t impressed with the appearance of godliness.
Peter’s trying to sound holy — but Jesus sees right through it.
Look at what Jesus says:
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Seven?
Who said anything about seven?
“I didn’t say seven. I say seventy times seven. I say 70x7.”
Uh… Jesus — that’s 490 times.
And honestly…
If I’m Peter, I’m thinking: “Forget that. I’d rather go Lamech’s route.”
Lamech shows up early in the Bible — Genesis 4. He’s a descendant of Cain.
And like Cain, he’s got a violence problem.
He brags that he killed a man for injuring him — not in self-defense, just pure revenge.
And then he says this:
24 If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”
So Lamech becomes this symbol of escalating retaliation.
He’s basically saying, “If you hurt me even a little, I’ll hurt you a lot.”
And we hear that and think — “Okay, that’s a bit much. That’s extreme.”
But here’s the hard truth:
This is how we operate.
No, we don’t say it like Lamech…
But in our hearts?
We carry the same posture.
– “You embarrassed me once? I’ll never trust you again.”
– “You said that to me? I’ll replay it a hundred times and never let it go.”
– “You hurt me? I’ll avoid you, talk about you, and make sure you know you’re cut off.”
We don’t escalate with swords — we escalate with silence.
With sarcasm.
With cold shoulders and passive aggression.
Lamech wanted to multiply revenge.
Jesus calls us to multiply forgiveness.
Then before Peter can even interject Jesus tells him a parable
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
Let’s pause here — because that number doesn’t mean much to us.
Ten thousand talents was an absolutely unpayable amount.
We’re talking millions of dollars in today’s terms — some scholars say billions.
It’s the kind of debt you don’t work off — you die with it.
25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’
27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
Just like that.
Wiped clean.
No payment plan. No probation.
Just mercy.
This is the gospel, right here.
This is what Jesus has done for us.
But the story isn’t over…
28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’
Now, that’s not nothing — a hundred denarii would be about three months’ wages.
But compared to what he was just forgiven?
It’s pocket change.
And what does he do?
he grabbed him and choked him…
No mercy. No patience.
Just wrath.
Sound familiar?
29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’
30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
The exact same plea he made to the king — he now denies to someone else.
31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
So the king throws him into prison.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Let that sit.
Jesus isn’t being metaphorical anymore.
He’s not wrapping up the story with a bow.
He’s warning us.
You can’t receive outrageous grace and then refuse to give it.
You can’t cling to the cross with one hand and choke your brother with the other.
You can’t walk in the presence of Jesus while walking in unforgiveness.
But Pastor…
“You don’t know what they did to me…”
You’re right.
I don’t.
And I’m not trying to minimize it.
I know some of you have been deeply wounded.
Betrayed. Abandoned. Abused.
What they did was real. And it was wrong.
But let me ask you this:
Do you realize what you’ve done to God?
Every lie.
Every act of pride.
Every moment of rebellion.
Every time you chose your way instead of His.
And yet
He didn’t choke you.
He didn’t imprison you.
He didn’t make you pay.
He forgave you.
All of it.
A debt you could never repay.
Do you realize the scale of the debt He released you from?
That servant owed ten thousand talents — more than he could earn in a hundred lifetimes.
And that’s the point.
Jesus wasn’t exaggerating.
He was describing you. Me. Us.
We weren’t going to fix it.
We weren’t going to earn our way back.
We needed mercy.
And God gave it.
Fully. Freely. Forever.
Paid in full — not with words, but with a cross.
So how can we — the forgiven — withhold forgiveness from others?
How can we claim to carry the name of Jesus,
while carrying bitterness toward someone He died for?
You can’t cling to the cross with one hand, and choke your brother with the other.
Now, yes — the context of Matthew 18 is forgiveness within the church.
Jesus is talking about how we handle sin and offense between believers.
But let me be clear — forgiveness doesn’t stop at the edge of the church lobby.
Jesus didn’t say, “Forgive your brother in Christ, but if it’s your coworker or your ex — go ahead and hold the grudge.”
Look at what He says in Mark 11:25:
25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Jesus here is saying when you pray make sure you’re forgiving anyone in your life that needs it so you can be forgiven.
So I got curious. I looked up the Greek word for “anyone.”
Because I thought, surely there’s some deep, ancient nuance here, right?
The word is “tis.”
Now brace yourself — this is gonna blow your mind…
You know what it means?
…Anyone.
That’s it.
Not “anyone who apologizes first.”
Not “anyone who deserves it.”
Just… anyone.
And if you still think forgiveness is optional — let’s go to Matthew 6 — the Lord’s Prayer.
Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray.
This is the model prayer — the one we all know:
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
It’s beautiful. Powerful.
But then — right after He finishes — Jesus does something unexpected.
He adds commentary.
And here’s what’s wild:
Out of everything in that prayer — the worship, the daily provision, the protection from evil — the only thing Jesus circles back to… is forgiveness.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
That’s not just a footnote.
That’s a warning.
Jesus is saying — “If you want access to God’s mercy, don’t block the it by refusing to show it.”
If you’re wondering why God isn’t moving in your life — why your prayers feel blocked,
why you can’t sense His presence,
why there’s this weight you can’t shake — ask the question:
Am I holding onto unforgiveness?
But let me pause here and say something really important in this conversation:
I am not — and the Bible is not — telling you to stay in an abusive situation and just keep forgiving.
Forgiveness does not mean staying in harm’s way.
It doesn’t mean tolerating toxic behavior or pretending like nothing happened.
You can set up boundaries.
You can create distance.
You can pursue healing.
And still walk in forgiveness.
But — on the flip side…
Let me also say this clearly:
The mantra “forgive, but never forget” isn’t biblical either.
Because that phrase doesn’t really mean “I still remember what happened.”
It usually means, “I’m not letting this go.”
It’s just a more socially acceptable form of bitterness.
But Jesus didn’t forgive you like that.
He didn’t say, “I forgive you, but I’m keeping a record.”
No —this is what he said:
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
Not because He forgot…But because He chose not to hold it against you anymore.
That’s real forgiveness.
That’s mercy.
And it’s the kind of mercy we’ve received — and the kind of mercy we’re called to release.
Now watch this:
Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve.
Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve.
And at the cross — we got both.
We didn’t just get a second chance.
We got a new heart.
You didn’t just get let off the hook.
The hook went into Jesus instead.
And the more clearly you see what He’s done for you, the harder it becomes to hold unforgiveness toward someone else.
