Healing, Forgiveness, and the Father We All Need

Healing, Forgiveness, and the Father We All Need August 4, 2018 The Story: Bart Millard was born in 1972. His father had a promising football career at SMU end in an injury. They lived in Greenville, Texas where Arthur worked for the Texas DOT. He miraculously survived being run over by a semi but had head trauma that left him with extreme mood swings, leading to terrible physical and emotional abuse of his boys. The movie focuses on the relationship between Arthur and his son Bart. A number of “creative decisions” were made by the writers and director that changed the sequence of events and otherwise KEY MOMENTS IN THE FILM: 1. Arthur seems incapable of disciplining and guiding his boys in love. (Ephesians 6:4) 2. A choral teacher (and church Youth Leader) push Bart toward gifts he didn’t even Know God had given him. (1 Corinthians 4:4-7) 3. There is freedom that comes in forgiveness and a prison that becomes your home if you don’t know forgiveness. (Matthew 6:14-15) 4. When someone important in your life dies, we are confronted with the Biblical claim that we were created for eternity and that Heaven is Real. (Revelation 21:1-5) altered the timeline of the real story. The World-View, Values, and Lessons of “I Can Only Imagine” • Parents, especially fathers, have the power to crush their children in a way that is difficult to ever overcome. • Teachers, church leaders, any adult who cares to notice children and teens can step into the gaps left by family and make invaluable contributions to redeeming that child. • Forgiveness, asking for it and giving it, is an essential and life-altering event. • We all need people who can see in us what we do not see and who will push us to try things we never imagined we could do. • Jesus can save and transform any person, even the “monsters” among us. • The promise and assurance of heaven should change the way we live today. The BIG IDEA: The Bible teaches that sin has so damaged us as human beings that every relationship in life is less than God’s design and desire. Only in coming back to our perfect Creator Father is His hand back firmly in the handprint on our souls (which Genesis describes as being made in God’s image). In the salvation only Jesus can give, we find the healing, forgiveness, and the Father we all need. Imagine The Father We All Need (Luke 15:11-32) 1. He Loves us enough to let us go. 2. He Loves us so much that He aches for our return. 3. He helps us see that to depend on the Father is wisdom not weakness. 4. He is the Father who runs to sons and daughters who want to come home. 5. The Father’s forgiveness is what will restore your life and make you new, whether you are the “younger brother” or the “older brother”. 2 Corinthians 5:15–19 (ESV) 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 6. The Father invites you to come home now and live with Him forever.