Tag: Forgiveness

The Source of Forgiveness

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This week we are continuing our teaching series, The Beauty of Forgiveness. Last time we talked about the fact that when we sin, we can go to Jesus to receive forgiveness. This week, with the help of another psalm of David, we are going to explore why exactly that is the case. What is it about Jesus that makes Him the best place to go for forgiveness when we have fallen into sin. The answer has everything to do with who He is. Let’s take a look!

The Source of Forgiveness

In the opening of the second chapter of his international bestseller, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins offered up a description of God that was intended to be provocative. I wonder some if his position hasn’t softened a bit in the years since given some of the public comments he has made recently—including describing himself as a cultural Christian just last year—but at the time, he gave word to something that a whole lot of folks were feeling. Many still do.

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The Cry for Forgiveness

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This week we are kicking off a brand-new teaching series. For the next few weeks we are going to be looking at forgiveness. We’ll explore this important idea from a variety of different angles including our cry to God for it, where it comes from, how it works, and what it looks like when we have received it. If forgiveness is something you need more of in your life – whether offering it or receiving it – this is series you won’t want to miss. We’ll start today with a look at the natural cry for forgiveness found on our lips when we have sinned in some way and broken a relationship. Guiding us in our journey will be David’s writings in Psalm 51. Let’s dive in.

The Cry for Forgiveness

When I was little I watched a lot of TV. It was mostly cartoons. There aren’t too many cartoons I didn’t watch growing up. That was before they started making adult cartoons, so I wasn’t really in much danger in that regard. I loved cartoons. I still do. Because of this, when I occasionally stepped out of line, one of the pressure points my parents could use as punishment was to take away TV for time. I remember one time when I had lost the privilege of watching TV for a week. I don’t have any idea what I had done, but I’m sure it was something that more than warranted the punishment. 

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Man praying with clasped hands inside a stone church

But Did You Mean It?

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“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, ‘We have not sinned,’ we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:9-10 CSB – Read the chapter)

I had the chance last night to see the band MercyMe in concert along with Jeremy Camp, Tim Timmons, and Sam Wesley. It was a great show. Timmons and Wesley I hadn’t heard of, but that’s apparently because I haven’t yet seen the movie I Can Only Imagine 2 in which both feature prominently in the story. Wesley is actually the son of the lead singer of MercyMe. None of the actors who played them looked even remotely like the actual people, which is always funny to me. One of MercyMe’s biggest hits over the years is the song “Flawless.” The song offers listeners the assurance of forgiveness thanks to the incredible grace of God. The idea is that like John writes here in his first letter, God’s grace in Christ Jesus will cleanse us from all unrighteousness so that we are flawless. God’s grace, won for us by Jesus on the cross, is indeed an amazing thing. But it comes with a catch. Since I didn’t preach yesterday, let’s take a few minutes to talk about this catch this today.

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Mural showing a contrast between justice with a masked figure and scales, and forgiveness with two hands clasped

The Hard Way of the Gospel

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“Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,’ says the Lord. But ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.'” (Romans 12:19-20 CSB – Read the chapter)

Everybody loves the idea of love. We love the good feelings we associate with it. We love the idea of doing good things for someone we really care about. We love having someone support us and express their concern for us. And that’s a good thing because those are good things. But real love, the love of Christ, is bigger than that. It is harder than that. Being committed to someone else’s good sometimes means doing the hard thing to help them get back on the track of that good even when they have drifted from that path. Sometimes it even means actively taking steps to stop them from doing evil. This requires commitment on the part of the one who is doing the loving; commitment to the point of sacrifice. After all, to express the ultimate love for us, Jesus sacrificed His own life on the cross so that we might live. Marvel’s most recent small screen offering, the second season of Daredevil: Born Again, puts all of this on display in a really powerful way. Let’s talk about it.

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Making the Broken Beautiful

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Sometimes the interruptions God allows to come to our lives are disruptive, they are inconvenient for us, but they aren’t necessarily destructive. Other times, though, life’s interruptions shake things apart so thoroughly that we’re not sure they will ever be able to be put back together again. Last week we talked through God’s interruptions to Abraham’s life. Those were hard, but the interruptions His great-grandson faced were hard on a whole other level. Let’s talk through Joseph’s story, how his life was interrupted, and what his response can teach us for handling our own hard interruptions.

Making the Broken Beautiful

Have you ever had things go from bad to worse? Sick kids are no fun. Several years ago, we had one sick kid. Then another. Then another. Then one of us went down. The dominoes just kept falling. And you would think that was bad enough, but you would be wrong. Just at the point that everybody was sick and all of the accompanying laundry was piling up to the ceiling…the washer broke down. We were at the store the next day. The nice salesman asked us what kind of a washer we were looking for, and we told him we were interested in whatever he had in stock that we could take home that day. I’m happy to report that we are all still alive and well, but that was a rough few days. In the grand scheme of things, though, that particular life interruption wasn’t so bad. It certainly could have been worse. Sometimes when life flies apart on us it feels like things shatter so thoroughly it’s hard to imagine there could ever be a way to put things back together again. 

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