[0:00] Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:23] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:41] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:56] We're the Fish Fry Kitchen Cleanup Crew. A welcome gift is available for new visitors and can be picked up at the connection site in the back of the sanctuary following worship.
[1:08] Fill out your friendship card to get on the mailing list. Sign up for activities. List any prayer concerns and any notes for the staff. Welcome to our church. You could be a part of this crew cleaning up the filth from a fish fry. Yes.
[1:22] We are glad to have everybody helping with our fish fries. We had our first fall fish fry this last Friday. So there are 385 dinners, which is a lot for the fall. So we appreciate everybody's help both coming and participating and helping out.
[1:35] We have two more to come. So your sign up opportunity on the clipboards is for our fish fries and to help with that. This afternoon at one o'clock from one to three, they're going to have a prayer walk.
[1:46] So if you like to do prayer, just pray. It's going to be praying for our ministry, praying for people, and they're going to kind of walk around the property and pray over the church. So that's this afternoon from one to three. Next Saturday, they're going to have something called trunk or treat, which is our version of Halloween, Halloween, which is we're going to have people open up their trunks and put candy in it.
[2:09] And kids will go from trunk to trunk to trunk. So if you'd like to participate or know more about it, find Barb Jeffords and she should be able to help you with that. Also next Sunday is our homecoming Sunday.
[2:20] So if you have somebody that you notice has been missing from church, it's a great time to invite them back and say, hey, love to see you in church this Sunday. It's homecoming. So we hope to have everybody turn out and have a great time together.
[2:31] Shall we turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer? Dear God, pour your spirit in this place. Touch each and every one of us with your love and your wonder and your power, because we've come here, Lord, to meet with you, to experience you, to know you.
[2:46] Settle our hearts and our minds and help us to focus on worshiping you. Words in Jesus name we pray. Amen. I'd like to invite you, if you're able, to stand as we're going to sing together.
[2:57] Joyful, joyful, we adore thee. Joyful, joyful, we adore thee. God of glory, Lord.
[3:11] God of love, have some gold like clouds before you. God of glory, Lord of love. Joyful, joyful, we adore thee. God of glory, Lord of love. God of glory, Lord of love.
[3:29] Joyful, joyful, we adore thee. Joyful, joyful, we adore thee. God of glory, Lord of love. God of glory, Lord of love. Hearts on gold like clouds before thee.
[3:41] Joyful, cool, knowing thee. Joyful, wy splendor, will upon ye.
[3:54] Joyful, holy windflow, powerkiwe. Heart of things moon,лучin' heads placent all we've heard. From immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day. All thy works with joy surround thee, earth and heaven reflect thy rays.
[4:12] Stars and angels sing around thee, center of unproven praise. Deep and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow flashing sea.
[4:30] Chanting bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in thee. Now forgiving and forgiving, ever blessing and for blessed.
[4:49] Well spring of the joy of living, O sin, heaven of happy breath. Thou our Father, Christ our brother, all who live in the heart of life.
[5:08] Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the glory divine. Mortals join the mighty chorus, which the morning stars began.
[5:27] The Lord, Christ our Lord, sing for us, binding all within its band. Ever singing, our free onward victors in the midst of pride.
[5:45] Joyful music leads us onward in the triumph of life. The Lord be with you.
[5:57] And also with you. When I look all around, I see a wonderful world God made for me.
[6:18] So many things to explore and find. I see His great love in His desire. Thank you, Lord, for making me a special part of your plan.
[6:35] You gave the gift of life to me. Now you hold me in your hands. When I look all around, I see a wonderful world God made for me.
[6:53] So many things to explore and find. I see His great love in His desire. Thank you, Lord, for making me a special part of your plan.
[7:10] Thank you, Lord.
[7:40] For making me a special part of your plan. You gave the gift of life to me.
[7:51] Now you hold me in your hand. Now you hold me in your hand. Now you hold me in your hand.
[8:03] Now you hold me in your hand. Now you hold me in your hand. Now you hold me in your hand. Now you hold me in your hand. Now you're welcome.
[8:15] Today's of the week, right? We show you the winner. And then you have the winner of Dad from shopping. Nathan Edwards. Doesn't actually work, however. I'll like to invite all the kids to come up and join me now if they'd like to. the way they meet on 4 at 4 30 on Wednesday so if your kid wants to come and sing come join the kids are welcome come on up and join me all right gather around what's that it's a chicken isn't it yeah it's a little chicken watch what's going to happen to the chicken so see when we get all splattered and messed up and broken God can make us all back together again right just like that chicken okay what are you guys thankful for you want to share something my mom and dad and my family my mom and dad my grandma and my brother my family my family my mom and dad friends and family all right let's pray shall we Lord we thank you that you make us all whole again when we get broken bless us and bless our families and friends and family and friends all right let's pray shall we Lord we thank you that you make us all whole again when we get broken bless us and bless our families all the things in life we love and help us always be close to you in Jesus name we pray amen okay the kids can all go out to church school now if they'd like to if there are any sixth graders in this room we'd like to encourage you to go on out as well because we're gonna be having a kickoff for a transitions program we're gonna have a lot of fun so many sixth graders are in here I'd like to encourage you to go out down to the ark and we'll go from there okay shoebox gifts are changing lives around the world you too can bless a child in need just take an empty shoebox fill it with toys school supplies hygiene items and add seven dollars to help send your gift to a child the world away but most importantly pray for the child that's gonna receive your gift that simple gift will be used to share the gospel and could lead to a child becoming a disciple of Jesus
[11:02] Christ so go pack a shoebox this is an explosion of happiness these kids are so excited because they are receiving toys for the very first time who doesn't want a gift who doesn't want a present it shows them that out there there are people who really care about you you've got an army of volunteers that pack the boxes our volunteers for operation christmas child I believe are the lifeline of this project they think that we can be part of something that's going to reach over 10 million kids this year that's exciting when the box when the box ends into the hands of the child that is not the end the big impact at the end of the day is lives that are changed it's my prayer that God will use you to tell others about his son Jesus Christ operation christmas child is creating a ripple that's going around the globe so it started with a box and it's ending with communities and countries being changed you know these boxes are like a candle it's a little bit of light that you take into a dark part of the world and it makes a difference thank you thank you thank you very good we want the children of the world to know that there is a God he loves them and you'll find an insert in your bulletin that'll give you some information about what to do and all of that this is one of the most wonderful ministries ministries I just I just always get so excited about seeing the shoeboxes starting to pile up as the gets closer and closer to that day that we pack them all up and send them all out want to keep all of you in our prayers as you prayerfully consider how God would have you give and to that effort and also for all of the children who are going to be received and we're going to start praying for them like today right as we continue in our worship let's offer our gifts tithes and offerings before the before the Lord God has blessed us so abundantly oh oh thank you hi
[13:44] When the starlit skies and night astound me, I will sing to you.
[13:57] When creation shouts your glory, when my heart repeats the story, how your grace reached down from heaven and found me, I will sing to you.
[14:27] When the path of trials lies before me, I will sing to you.
[14:47] When the clouds of sorrow gather for me, I will sing to you.
[14:59] When I feel alone and friendless, when the pain I bear seems endless, I will trust your spirit to restore me, and I will sing to you.
[15:24] And one day in the glorious place, at last I'll see you face to face, and there I'll sing my song of praise forever.
[15:46] So for all the days you will provide me, I will sing to you.
[16:04] And with all the strength I have inside me, I will sing, I will sing, I will sing to you.
[16:27] Sing to you.
[16:39] Sing to you. plate 3 Oh Jつ Informa Praise Him, all the people, bless His love.
[17:04] Praise Him, all riches here below. Praise Him above the heavenly host.
[17:16] Praise God, His Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
[17:30] Dear Heavenly Father, we do give You thanks and praise for this day. We thank You for the opportunity to gather together and worship. We thank You that You have blessed us so abundantly with gifts of Your Spirit and with all of the things that we need here in this earth.
[17:45] Lord God, we offer all of our gifts to You this day. We ask You to bless them. We ask You to give us wisdom to know how to best use them for the furtherance of Your kingdom that many would come to faith in Jesus Christ.
[18:02] It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. We do have the blessing of a couple of folks we've been praying for back with us today.
[18:17] Jim Schlemmer is back with us, and Jan had her eye surgery, and she's doing great. What a blessing it is to know that God hears and answers prayer. Amen? Amen. And we also do have a concern.
[18:29] Mary Byneton, who is Brian Masterson's sister. She passed away, and we want to keep that family in our prayers. So I know we have concerns. Everyone has concerns on their hearts and joys.
[18:41] Let's take it all to the Lord in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to be able to come before You.
[19:01] We are so blessed knowing that You love us so much that You want us to just reach out to You and come up into Your presence, to know Your loving arms around us, to know how You touch us in our hearts, in our souls, in our bodies, in our spirits, to make us whole with You.
[19:28] Thank You, Lord. Lord God, we do pray for the ministry of Operation Christmas Child that You will begin now, Lord God, to draw people's hearts toward this ministry.
[19:46] Whoever You have called to put together a shoebox would just be blessed as they go forward and do it. Father, we pray in Jesus' name for each and every child who will be receiving one of those this year.
[20:05] We know that You know who they are, Lord. We pray that they will receive that blessing for themselves and for their families, that You love them, that they will know and understand how great Your love is, how great Your blessings are.
[20:27] We pray for all of the mission opportunities, the mission works that we do through this church. We ask that You would continue to bless them and bless all the folks who work in them, give them the strength and the endurance they need to be able to do what You've called them to do.
[20:47] We pray, Lord God, that You would draw others into this ministry, into whatever mission it is that You desired for them to be part of.
[21:00] Let us know, Lord. Touch us and speak to us. Let us know how we can serve You and minister in this world. Lord God, we lift up all of those now that we're thinking of, that we know of, who are sick, who are infirm.
[21:24] Whether it's in their spirits, their souls, or their bodies, Lord, touch them. We pray for all those who are grieving losses of all kinds, and we ask that You would come in by Your Holy Spirit and give them the comfort and the peace that they need.
[21:40] Draw them into Your presence that they would hide beneath the shelter of Your wings. Lord God, now we lift up to You all of those things that are in our hearts, those people who are in our hearts, for the joys and for the concerns that we have for them in the silence of this moment.
[22:07] Lord God, now, Lord God, as we come to hear Your Word and to hear the message Pastor Tom has prepared, we just ask that You would give us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts and minds to understand and to receive all that You have for us.
[22:48] Transform us, Lord. Make us to be like Jesus. Bless Pastor Tom as he brings the message and anoint him.
[23:00] Let it be a blessing to him and to us. And Lord God, just anoint all of our worship. Draw us into Your presence and make all that we do in this day to be a blessing to You.
[23:19] It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Shall we hear from the Word of the Lord? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Good morning.
[23:55] Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Our scripture this morning is taken from the book of Mark. chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. A few days later when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus, and after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was laying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the teachers of the law were sitting there thinking to themselves, Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier to say to the paralytic,
[25:06] Your sins are forgiven? Or to say, Get up, take your mat, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I tell you, Get up, take your mat, and go home. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
[25:27] Thank you, Jan. Jesus came back to his hometown in Capernaum, and he was sitting in his home, and people came to listen to him teach. So he sat down and started teaching them, and people gathered in the house. The house was so crowded that you couldn't even get in.
[25:44] You ever been to something like that? Years ago, we used to do an open house at our home at Christmas time for the church. We stopped doing it when 350 people came in two hours, and it was all like, you know, like this, and he couldn't even move around. Sometimes it's just so crowded that it's hard to even breathe. Imagine, around Jesus are people really tight, all packed together in this huge crowd, and then even around the house. They're gathered outside the house trying to hear what he's got to say. Some guys came along with a fellow who had been paralyzed. He's lying on a mat, and four of them were carrying him. And they lifted him up onto the roof when they realized they couldn't get through the door, and they started digging through the roof. I want you to think about this. You're sitting there in your house, teaching with some people and friends and such, and all of a sudden, the roof starts coming in, and there's people digging a hole through your roof. Stuff's falling down on people. They're out, and you can't move around, so they're sort of like trying to get away as they're dropping a guy through the ceiling. Jesus looks at this whole scene, this mess, and he says, your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. Maybe he was just saying, it's okay that you cut a hole in my roof. I don't know. That would be enough, wouldn't it? Your sins are forgiven.
[27:08] They're removed. They're taken away. This paralyzed man gets up and walks and goes home.
[27:22] Sin. When we do something wrong, I won't ask you if you've ever done wrong, because most all of us at least acknowledge that we do things wrong, right? We carry it around with us.
[27:36] I remember one time in July, I had a clever little idea. I've told some of you this story. I was probably about seven or eight years old, and I thought, why can't we collect Halloween candy in July? But I knew that I wasn't still young and cute enough, so I took my three, four-year-old brother and dressed him up in a cowboy outfit, and we went to a door of a neighbor, and I positioned myself carefully so I couldn't be seen, and he stood in the middle, and all he had to do was yell, trick or treat. I rang the doorbell, and the guy came to the door and said, what do you want? And that was it. My brother froze.
[28:09] And I listened to the guy lay into my little brother. I'm sorry of you kids coming around and ringing our doorbell, running away, and I remember you, you brat. Closes the door.
[28:30] I never stepped out. There was no way I was going to take any of the heat. I completely threw my little brother under the bus. It's been over 50 years. I still remember today.
[28:47] Sin hurts the people in battle. Whether we're talking about the people who the sin is caused against or the people who do the sinning. I've been accused of a lot of things. Some of them are very true. When I talk about what I was like when I was young, somebody said to me, you were a bully. And I thought, I guess I was. I didn't think I was at the time. We could even sin without even realizing we're doing something wrong. It could be intentional, or it could be something we really didn't intend to do. We say something inappropriate, trying to be humorous, or we get angry and we lash out, or we get scared and we act and someone gets hurt. Sin hurts, and it paralyzes us when we choose to do wrong or when we just have wrong happen.
[29:47] I was a squad leader. I didn't know Billy real well. He was a new kind of quiet. We didn't talk much to new guys. He was 19, sir? I tried 19. Only son? Yes, sir. Only boy. I think he said he was married and you were pregnant. I remember the day he was killed. It was a strange day. We were out on patrol near a beach area. And I was very confusing. I was screaming and firing.
[30:47] It was getting late. And there were these children, these babies that we killed by mistake.
[31:00] How awful. And then it got really crazy. And we had to pull back because the NBA were coming up on us. And we got scattered in the dunes. People were yelling at anything, firing at anything. And that was when it happened.
[31:28] And I was confused. I was scared. I raised my rifle three times. And shots.
[31:50] Body fell in the dunes. God, this is very difficult for me to say.
[32:05] We don't have to hear this wrong. But Mr. Wilson, I think I was the one that killed your son that night. I was the one. I was the one. What's done is done, sir. I can't ever forgive you.
[32:42] But maybe the Lord can. We don't understand, Ron. We don't understand the pain you've been going to.
[33:07] Which is easier to say. Take up your mat and walk where your sins are forgiven.
[33:25] Heal somebody who's physically broken. Heal somebody whose soul is tortured. I can't ever forgive you.
[33:37] Maybe the Lord can. Jesus heals. We call this a miracle story because the man got up and walked.
[33:49] Jesus can heal. Can he heal our bodies? Of course he can. I was talking to Jan Gertz at the fish Friday night. I don't know if any of you had an opportunity to talk to her. She said she's had a heart condition that's kept her from being able to do all sorts of things.
[34:03] Now, for about four months, she went in to see the doctor. And the doctor said, I don't understand this test. Doctor said, there's nothing wrong with you anymore. There's no explanation.
[34:14] There's nothing we've done. I can't figure out why he's saying this. Tom said, I can. I can. I can. Do miracles happen? They do. I understand Pastor Sherry asked some of you last week if miracles have happened in your life.
[34:29] Miracles happen. I know they do. I've seen them. But the healing of a body is only one miracle. The point of this story, believe it or not, is not so much that Jesus can heal your body, which will break eventually.
[34:42] The paralytic isn't alive today. But that he can heal your soul. We need our sin forgiven. Because unforgiven sin holds us, paralyzes us, freezes us up through our lives and in the life to come.
[35:06] And we carry pain around with us like this fellow did, sometimes for years. Sin is destructive. Believe it or not, sin can make you sick.
[35:19] We don't know what caused his paralysis. We just know it's when his sins were forgiven, he got up and walked. I don't know about you, but sin has caused me to be paralyzed.
[35:31] When I feel I've done something wrong, sometimes I can't even sleep at night. When I think I've hurt somebody, when I feel I've caused some pain, even if I know I didn't intend to do it, I did it.
[35:43] And it hurts. It gives me stress. It gives me stomach aches. It makes me sick. We lose our focus. We're not even able to function properly anymore.
[35:54] Because we obsess about the pain and the sin that's both been done to us and that which we've done. Jesus says, your sins are forgiven.
[36:07] I'll tell you the truth. I would have just liked him to forgive me for cutting a hole in his roof. But he was going beyond that. Sin hurts. Sin can blind us so that we can't even see what's really there.
[36:21] There's some teachers of the law that were gathered there around Jesus in his house. And they're thinking to themselves. Why does this fellow talk like this?
[36:34] He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? They can't see what's even happening. Because their hearts are hard. We find ourselves unable to really see the truth.
[36:49] Jesus talked about it. He said, why you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye. How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when all the time there's a plank in your own eye?
[37:04] You hypocrite. First take the plank out of your own eye and then you'll see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. It is so easy to see other people's problems, isn't it? I'm going to tell you I can point out the sin and failings in anybody.
[37:20] A lot harder to look at our own. And sometimes sin has a way of distorting our perception so we can't even see what's clearly in front of us.
[37:32] What's this a picture of? Look like a man's face? Turn your head this way. Now what is it?
[37:45] You see? Sin causes us to be deceived. We become liars even to ourselves. We can't see the truth that's right in front of us.
[37:58] 1 John chapter 1 says, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth isn't in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
[38:17] We claim we have not sinned. We make God out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. Sin can blind us so that all we see are the lies that sin wants us to believe.
[38:31] Worst of all, sin breaks our hearts. It destroys our relationships. It hurts people. Jesus is sitting in his own house with people around him who are supposed to be his friends and supporters.
[38:51] And here he's got these people thinking these nasty, hurtful thoughts towards him. Who's this guy thinking he is for giving sins? And it says that Jesus knew in his spirit, knew in his spirit what they were thinking.
[39:11] Ever have that happen? Where you can feel that something's wrong. Even before anybody's told you, something's happened.
[39:22] And all of a sudden, we've got a hurt between us and someone else. They don't have to say anything. They can smile. They can do everything the same.
[39:32] But we know there's a barrier here. Something has happened. And we're broken. That's what sin does. It destroys the relationships between people.
[39:44] And when we're unforgiven, we're broken and separated from each other and from God. And believe it or not, it's just not always the people who have sinned.
[40:00] Having an unforgiving heart towards someone else can paralyze you too. Have you ever held a grudge? You know?
[40:11] Somebody did something just so, so hurtful to you, you just can't let it go. And you know what happens. The grudge you're holding on to starts holding on to you.
[40:27] And before you know it, you're sick and obsessing. And all you can do is think about this and you're angry and you're hurtful. And half the time, they don't even know it.
[40:42] Who's the loser? The answer is both. Because sin destroys all of us. It destroys each and every one of us.
[40:56] You know, I had somebody at a meeting the other night. They said, well, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. And you know, I wanted to, I wanted to, I just realized what they're trying to say.
[41:09] I'll just stop. I want to say, no, it's not. No, it's not. The worst that happens when you ask for permission is you're disappointed. To ask for forgiveness means getting into your own gut and dealing with your own stuff.
[41:29] Forgiveness is hard. A lot of people don't want to do it. They don't want to ask for it and they don't want to give it. Sometimes we don't want to ask for it because we don't want to admit that there's something wrong with us.
[41:43] That we're broken. That we have a problem. You got these guys who know all about God, but they don't know God. They're broken. They don't realize it. They make up a religion to give them a sense and a feeling, a false idea that they have some power, some claim on God, some claim on righteousness, when they don't.
[42:03] Religion can be a wonderful thing, but it can be something that gives us this false illusion, this lie, this blindness that somehow we're okay when we're not. People are afraid to admit they're broken.
[42:17] But they're vulnerable. There's something wrong with them. I got to tell you the truth, folks. There's something wrong with all of us. We are all dysfunctional and fall short of the glory of God.
[42:29] Every one of us. There's something wrong with all of us. Not just the people that they point out on the street. It's you and me, too. Some people are just better at hiding it than others. But there's something wrong.
[42:42] And it's hard to say, I am not as good as I want to be. I messed up. Imagine what it felt like for this guy to go to these parents and say to him, I killed your son.
[42:58] Hard to even imagine. And we don't want to owe anybody. We don't even want to owe God. I'm a self-made man. I don't owe anybody anything.
[43:09] But that's not true. Nobody's self-made. You know what it takes to make a life work out? How many other people have to make your life work for you to work out to be successful?
[43:20] In this world, we depend on each other. We need each other. And the further we go in life, the more we discover that. All the things I can't do.
[43:33] And as things keep changing so fast, I can't keep up with them. There's even more I can't do as life goes on. I'm wondering how long before I become totally incompetent. Simply because I can't keep up with all this stuff.
[43:46] You wonder why sometimes people get to a point in their life where they go and hide away with a bunch of other old people. And so they'll have to deal with all this crazy stuff.
[43:59] And your body starts to hurt. And you realize you just can't do everything you thought you could do. But that happens at every age. Everybody. We need each other.
[44:11] We just don't want to admit it. Sometimes we just have to own up to our weakness. I just say, I need help. I'm not perfect. But worst of all, some people like the pain.
[44:28] They like to have somebody else to blame for their problems. They want to be able to say, it's not my fault I have a problem. It's theirs.
[44:38] I don't have to examine my stuff because I know there's people worse in this world than me. I don't have to say I'm a sinner because I know somebody's a bigger sinner than me.
[44:52] And somehow they feed off of that. They don't trust in God. They don't believe in God when he says your sins are forgiven. This fellow picked up his mat, it says in verse 12, and went home.
[45:09] He didn't just pick up his mat because he wasn't paralyzed anymore. He picked up his mat because he was set free from the pain that we have in life. That's a miracle. God breaks through our brokenness and says, your sins are forgiven.
[45:24] Go home and live life the way you're meant to. That's a miracle. We confess our sins, repent our sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[45:36] We will be forgiven. The other day my wife got a letter from somebody she hasn't seen for a lot of years who said that 15, 20 years ago she was hurtful to Jackie and she didn't treat her right and she just wanted to say she was sorry.
[45:55] And my wife was like, I don't remember that. I don't remember her being nasty. I don't remember her being hurtful. I don't even know what she's talking about. She read it to me.
[46:05] She said, do you remember something? Because I don't remember this. Isn't it amazing? See, we carry it around. Other people have let it go.
[46:16] My wife wrote her a nice letter back, of course, and said, hey, it's okay. If you feel bad and there's anything you feel I'm holding, I'd forgive you. But just don't worry about it.
[46:28] I never thought you were a problem at all. But she needed to confess it. She needed to tell her this, that I have a problem. Confession is just admitting.
[46:40] I need help. And we confess it to God because only God can forgive sins. They were right in that. Because only God's perfect and we're not. You see, the way forgiveness goes is that the injured person forgives the one who did the injury.
[46:59] And so the one who experienced the pain reverses the equation and accepts more pain. And the person who caused the pain is essentially let off the hook.
[47:12] That's kind of hard, isn't it? Now, if we're talking about God forgiving our sins, it means that the one who is absolutely perfect forgives the ones who are broken.
[47:28] You know, when Jesus died on the cross, a man died. The man Jesus died. And that was agonizing. But God died, too. And I know you'd say, God can't die.
[47:39] Well, God died. You see, God had a choice. God was perfect. And everything around him was perfect. And he created heaven to make sure that he always had perfection around him.
[47:51] And if anything wasn't perfect, he could just eliminate it. And then he looked at us one day and he said, I don't want to eliminate them. I don't want to destroy them.
[48:05] I want to love them forever. But they're messed up, broken, full of sin. How can a perfect God be in relationship with someone like that?
[48:17] It would make God full of sin. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 says, God made Christ, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
[48:32] God made his perfection die on that cross because he wanted to love us. Do you know how much God loved you? He gave up.
[48:44] The only thing, the only thing that's right next to you is perfection for you. And he's not perfect anymore.
[48:58] Because he's got all these sinful, broken people in his world. Can you imagine that? Think about that. God became sin. Sin's hard.
[49:11] Forgiveness is hard. Forgiveness causes us to feel pain. I've been hurt. Anybody here ever been hurt?
[49:23] I don't know if I've been hurt as bad as these people in this movie clip, but I've been hurt. And forgiving people hurts. It's not easy.
[49:35] It hurts. God does something amazing with it. Because somehow through love, God takes that brokenness into his world and love spits it back out okay again.
[49:54] So when we forgive someone and restore our relationship, even though it hurts to forgive them, somehow the love that is restored overcomes the brokenness.
[50:05] And things are okay again. But sin is not a permission. Forgiveness is not a permission.
[50:18] Excuse me. Forgiveness is not a permission to keep on sinning. That's where repent comes in. Repent means to turn around. Do it differently.
[50:31] Don't keep doing the same old thing. Don't keep sinning. Jesus said it to a lot of different people. Go and sin no more. Don't keep sinning. Love doesn't keep hurting the people that they love.
[50:46] We're all going to mess up. We're all going to make mistakes. We're all going to do something wrong. And if we learn and grow and change from our mistakes, then forgiveness is satisfied.
[50:58] But if we keep hurting and hurting and hurting people, then somewhere along the line, we get into a relationship of abuse, not a relationship of love.
[51:14] You know what guilt is? Guilt is the pain that God gives to us to cause us to change. Guilt is a pain God puts in our soul so that we will be motivated to change if we believe.
[51:32] If we believe. You see, that's the last piece that somehow even people call themselves Christians have a hard time doing, accepting and believing that they are forgiven.
[51:48] It says when Jesus saw their faith, he forgave their sins. There's a Wesleyan song that says, he breaks the power of canceled sin and sets the prisoner free.
[52:01] I don't know if you understand that. God already canceled the sin. God already took it away. God already forgave it and you're still dragging it around with you. God said it's forgiven.
[52:13] God removed it from you. God freed you from that bondage and that pain. And we drag it around almost as if it's some kind of badge. I can't ever forgive myself for what I did.
[52:27] Even though God has forgiven you. One of the most powerful things that Jesus does is he gives us the ability to let go of it.
[52:40] Jesus didn't climb upon a cross to forgive your sins so that you would nail him back up there again every day, carrying around the guilt and the pain from something that happened years ago.
[52:52] Let it go. Guilt is a pain that causes change, but guilt is not a lifestyle. It's not a way we relate with one another. We need to break through that brokenness.
[53:07] No matter what. You know, in that movie, the girl says, I can't ever forgive you. So what happens if people won't forgive us? What happens if we've hurt them and they won't forgive us?
[53:22] We still have to give it over to God and let it go. Jesus forgives our sin. Do the best you can to make things up and move on. Move on because God doesn't want us to live in guilt.
[53:33] He wants us to live in grace. You got four friends, right? Four friends who carried this guy on a man. I don't know if you've ever carried someone.
[53:44] This is not easy work. They carried these guys all the way to Jesus' house and then they realized they couldn't get in the house. So they lifted this guy up on the roof.
[53:54] Again, not an easy thing to do. Then they start digging through Jesus' roof. Now you might say, okay, yeah, that's kind of a cute story. All right. Jesus is in his house with his whole posse around him.
[54:08] I mean, we're talking about probably two, three hundred people there, all of which are willing to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. These guys are cutting through the roof. All Jesus has to say is, who are these guys?
[54:20] Get them! They would have been beat to a pulp. This was dangerous duty to cut through the roof of a guy who's got hundreds of guys with him.
[54:31] And they did it because they were friends. Can you imagine? Four friends. If you've got one good friend, you're doing pretty good.
[54:44] If you've got two, you're doing real well. Four friends willing enough to risk their lives, their health, their time, for you.
[54:54] How does that happen? Because you build a community of grace, not grudges. I have friends.
[55:07] I have friends, lifelong friends. I can't tell you that there's one of those lifelong friends I haven't heard. And there's one of them that hasn't heard me. I've been married 39 years.
[55:18] The same woman. Don't believe that we've never hurt each other because we have. You don't get through long-term relationships because there's no problems.
[55:29] You get through them because you learn how to extend grace. Real love is extending grace again and again to one another. They built a community of grace and they lived into it.
[55:43] Do you believe in that? You need to. You need to for your own health. You need to for your relationships. You need to because God wants you to live that way, not broken. I'm going to tell you something.
[55:56] Nobody wants an angry, spiteful, sinful, blaming, sad, resentful, guilty, broken person hanging around them.
[56:08] people are attracted to grace, to joy, to forgiveness, to hope, to possibilities, and healing. what we think leaks out.
[56:25] These fellows sitting around Jesus that had this bad attitude, Jesus could feel it and people can feel it when you're working and living in that life. But if you live in the joy of the Lord, Jesus says, no one will be able to take away your joy.
[56:40] a miracle is to have joy in a broken world, to have friends in the midst of pain, to have healing, not just for our bodies, but for our very souls.
[56:56] Offer grace and you'll receive it. Offer grace. Offer grace abundantly. Offer grace when you don't even think you should.
[57:06] Offer grace everywhere. Offer grace. Forgive us our sins as... Why did he put that line in there? Because we need it.
[57:18] For our own health, our own joy, our own possibilities. 1 John. One line from that. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and take away all the brokenness, all the unrighteousness, all of it and make us all.
[57:37] So let's go ahead and do that, shall we? Pray with me. Dear God in heaven, I have sinned. I've broken your rules. I've broken other people.
[57:52] I carry around grudges. I carry around guilt. Pain and brokenness. Heal me, Lord.
[58:05] Forgive me, Lord. Restore my relationships. Restore my relationships. Restore my relationships. Restore my relationships. Help me to offer grace. Help me to offer grace. Help me to receive grace.
[58:17] Help me to receive grace. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen. Jesus said, if you confess and you repent and you believe, you will be forgiven.
[58:29] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[58:46] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[58:57] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amazing grace A sweet love sound Amazing love Now flowing down The hands and feet Never nailed to the tree Grace flows down in lovers' feet In lovers' feet In lovers' feet
[60:07] In lovers' feet In lovers' feet Amazing grace A sweet love sound Amazing love Amazing love Now flowing down The hands and feet Never nailed to the tree Grace flows down in lovers' feet In lovers' feet
[61:11] In lovers' feet In lovers' feet In lovers' feet In lovers' feet In lovers' feet In lovers' feet In lovers' feet In lovers' feet piano plays softly
[62:27] Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see Was grace that taught my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear Beyond my thirst believed I changed my love I've been set free My God, my Savior
[63:28] Has rapsed on me And my God His mercy reigns Unending love All days in praise The Lord has promised good to me His word my hope Is yours He will my shield And portioned me As long as life has endured My chains are gone And make them free My God, my Savior Has rapsed on me
[64:29] And by the blood And by the blood His mercy reigns Unending love All days in praise My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior Has ransomed me And by the blood And by the blood His mercy reigns Unending love All days in praise The earth shall soon The world is long Like snow The sun For when to shine The God
[65:31] Who called me Here below Will be forever mine Will be forever mine You are forever mine You are forever mine Used to be far For when to shine For when to shine For when to shine Eternity in your hand You spoke the earth
[66:35] In a motion My soul now to stand You stood before my failure And carry the cross And carry the cross For my shame My sin went upon Your shoulders My soul now to stand So what can I say And what can I do To do But my blood is high Oh God Comply made it to you So I want the heart Of salvation
[67:37] The spirit of light in me My life My life to declare Your promise My soul now to stand My soul now to stand What can I say What can I do And I do The love of the smile Of God Completely in you Completely in you Oh God Oh God I'll stand Your love's high And heart of madness Free it all Of the one who gave it all Outstand My soul now to surrender All I am I'll stand With arms high And heart of madness Free it all Of the one who gave it all Outstand My soul now to surrender
[68:41] All I am is yours All I am is yours All I am is yours I'll stand I'll stand With arms high And heart of madness I'll stand With arms high And heart of madness Free it all Of the one who gave it all I'll stand My soul now to surrender All I am is yours All I am is yours All I am is yours It's yours All I am is yours All I am is yours Please be seated.
[69:39] Our God offers forgiveness. When we come to the table, we remember that. We remember and we receive. You can come expecting.
[69:51] This morning. You can come expecting to receive the forgiveness that God has for you. Let God's presence wash over you. Let God's presence enter in.
[70:05] Again, in a new way. Bring that healing to those places. Those places you know you have to let go.
[70:18] Everyone is welcome at the table. You love God. Earnestly repent of your sin. And seek to live in peace as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
[70:30] You are welcome at the table this morning. So come. Come and be blessed. Come and know how much God loves you and cares for you.
[70:41] The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. Lift up your hearts. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks to the Lord.
[70:53] It is right. Good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life.
[71:07] When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity. Made covenant to be our sovereign God and spoke to us through your prophets.
[71:19] And so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
[71:36] Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Holy are you and blessed is your son Jesus Christ.
[71:47] Your spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people.
[72:03] He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
[72:26] And on the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread and he gave thanks to you. He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, and he said, Take, eat.
[72:37] This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
[72:52] And when the supper was over, he took the cup and he gave you thanks and praise, and he gave it to his disciples, and he said, Drink from this, all of you. This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new covenant poured out for you, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin.
[73:12] Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. And so, in remembrance of these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves, in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
[73:35] Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here. And on these gifts of bread and wine, make them be for us, the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world, the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
[73:55] By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
[74:07] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit and your Holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.
[74:19] Shall we pray together, with the confidence of disciples of Jesus Christ, the prayer he taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[74:39] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
[75:01] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[75:11] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[75:24] Amen. Amen.
[75:45] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[76:21] Thank you.
[76:51] Thank you.
[77:21] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[77:33] Thank you. Now, if you're able, I'm going to invite you to stand as we sing together, To God Be The Glory.
[78:01] To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Hath Done.
[78:21] So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an adornment for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in.
[78:38] Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice.
[78:50] Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, Great things He hath done.
[79:02] Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, Great things He hath done. Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, Great things He hath done. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice.
[79:33] Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, Great things He hath done.
[79:54] In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven, removed, taken away, destroyed, destroyed, no longer remembered from now and into eternity, unless you hold on to Him.
[80:05] It's time to let it all go. But Pastor, He hurt you. Yeah, I know, I know. We've all been hurt, we've all hurt other people. The devil wants you to live in pain. The devil wants you to live in sin.
[80:17] He knows what it'll do to you, to eat you up, destroy you, tear your very soul apart. Don't let them do that. Live in the joy of the Lord, the power of the Lord. You are a people of grace.
[80:28] Offer grace, receive grace, be blessed by a life of grace. May God go with you and give you His wonder, His strength, and His joy. He's already given you His forgiveness.
[80:40] Go in peace. Go in peace.
[80:54] Who do not let ever return? einer He制ation Who prophesied