Sermon Tone Analysis

Forgiveness

BLURB

You may be carrying around guilt from hurting someone or bitterness from someone hurting you.

But God never meant for you to live that way!

In this message, I’m going to share with you the meaning of forgiveness, a word that was best demonstrated by Jesus Christ on the cross.

INTRO

Any body been on a plane trip?

Train trip?

Winter trip?

Guilt trip?

Guilt isn’t fun.

It’s a terrible feeling that is damaging in many ways.

But God doesn’t want us to feel guilty, and instead of hiding our guilt Jesus wants us to admit it and believe he will forgive us completely.

The cross is more important than just Jesus dying for our sins.

Jesus’ first words at his death in Luke 23 were words of love: “Father, forgive them …” In this message we’ll look at what we usually do with our guilt, what Jesus wants us to do with it, and what we need to believe about how Jesus will handle our guilt.

Story of forgiveness

Matt Lee - cattle prod.

I hurt him.

I went and asked for them to forgive me, and they did.

I apologized to him.

I apologized to his mom.

She forgave me.

Not right away.

But she did.

It was hard, not easy.

There are times in our lives where we each need to forgive.

And to be forgiven.

Jesus is the perfect example of this.

I want to share with you what he says from the cross.

Luke 23:27–37 (NIV)

A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.

Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.

For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’

Then

“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.

They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him.

They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

The first word that Jesus gives from the cross is what I call the word of forgiveness.

Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.

3 Things About Guilt

What I want to do today is look at what we normally do with our guilt, what God wants us to do with our guilt and how to be free from our guilt.

If you’re carrying any guilt there’s no reason you should walk out of here with it today.

This is the time to let it go and get it dealt with.

The word of forgiveness.

1.

What we usually do with our guilt.

Facebook Comments: So helpful - These are just a few...

Alcohol.

Drugs.

Overwhelm themselves with busyness.

Buy lavish gifts for the victims.

Self harm.

Good works.

a.

We Bury It

bury with alcohol, drugs, spending sprees, work and overwork...

bury - walk away from it.

- Now on the internet and searchable

Proverbs 28:13 (NIV)

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

b.

We Blame Others

One Facebook user - we’ll just call him Andy… said Justify their actions by convincing themselves it’s not their fault.

We externalize.

I mean… just look at Adam and Eve...

Genesis 3:12 (NIV)

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

So if Adam did it… we can externalize our guilt by blaming it on Adam, who blamed it on Eve, actually Adam blamed it on God who made Eve.

Kinda like a relative of mine who went to his mother-in-law when he had a problem with his wife!

How silly!

What does Jesus want you to do with guilt?

He wants you to do two things.

Write these down.

Number one, the Bible is very clear, very specific about how to get off a guilt trip.

The steps are simple but they’re not easy.

2. What Jesus wants us to do with our guilt.

a. Admit it

Sometimes when we run from guilt we try to run from it by keeping busy and we keep ourselves so busy overworking.

1 John 1:8 (NIV)

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

circle we deceive ourselves.

That’s why guilt is so devastating in your life.

You can hide it from others.

You can hide it from others but you cannot hide it from yourself.

So you’ve got to start by just admitting it.

I want you to write this down on your outline:

To stop defeating myself I must stop deceiving myself.

If you don’t get anything else, get this – to stop defeating myself I must stop deceiving myself.

What are you pretending is not a problem in your life?

It’s not a habit.

It’s not an addiction.

It’s not a problem.