2027.07.27 - Forgiveness - The Common Cold

Releasing Others From My Captivity

 

      I.         Start Right Where We Left Off Last Sunday 

a.     Ephesians 4:31-32

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. KJV

    II.         The Common Cold

a.    Have you ever had a cold? Of course you have.

b.    Where did you get it from?

                                              i.     If  you KNEW who gave you the cold, how would you treat them?

1.    Would  you forsake them and never go near them again?

2.    Would you forever hold them responsible for the sneezes, the runny notes and the sniffles?

3.    Would you keep a tally of the work you missed, the money you lost, the misery you felt because they gave you a cold?

a.    Or would you forgive them and move on with your life?

c.    Who are we holding captive because they touched us without even knowing it!

                                              i.     Think about it – you cannot really give someone a cold unless you have a cold!

  III.         Born Into This Mess

a.    Just as you were born into a world where is without a doubt a certainty that at some point in your life you will either catch a cold or someone you know, or don’t know, will give you germs and make you sick you were also born into a world of sin.

                                              i.     Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: KJV

                                             ii.     We were born into a world of 

1.    Pain 

2.    Suffering

3.    Sickness

4.    Death 

 IV.         Legal Issues

a.    I cannot sell what I do not own.

b.    I cannot legally transfer authority of what is not mine to another

                                              i.     In this sense, I identify either with 

1.    The first Adam – if I hold everyone hostage to their sins or 

2.    The Last Adam – if I forgive then I too get forgiveness

                                             ii.     Who I am not willing  to forgive I am tied to legally! 

c.    At some point it is no longer your fault – it becomes my issue

   V.         I Can Hear Mama Now . . .       

a.    “I don’t care who started it – I am gonna finish it!”

                                              i.     If I continue to blame others for my issues then I will never own my issues

1.    If I don’t own it I cannot confess it

a.    If I don’t confess it I can never be free from it!

b.    I am either bound to Adam in sin or Christ in forgiveness

b.    Someone may be able and willing to admit responsibility for getting you

                                              i.     Hooked on drugs

                                             ii.     Hooked on porn

                                           iii.     Whatever the case may be

1.    But it is highly unlikely that they will have the power to get you free from it – in Christ alone is Freedom!

c.    It doesn’t matter where you got it, what matters is that you get rid of it and don’t die from it or give it to anyone else!

2025.07.20 - Forgiveness - All Apologies

      I.         The Word From The Word 

a.     Matthew 6:9-15

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. KJV

    II.         You Owe Me

a.    “Forgive us our debts”

                                              i.     Debts – that which is OWED

                              ii.   If we demand an apology then nothing more is OWED, we have not forgiven them, they have “paid” for their mistake

                                           iii.     For me to forgive only after an apology is not forgiveness, it is me demanding recompense, interest and compensation for the wrong to the degree that I feel I was wronged.

                                           iv.     For me to forgive only when asked is not Christlike

1.    HE made the first move

a.    Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners , Christ died for us KJV

b.    Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world KJV

                              v.   If you have already REALLY forgiven someone then an apology cannot make it better

  III.         So So Very Much Grace

a.    I have been given far more grace and I could ever deserve

b.    I have been forgiven more times than I could count

c.    I have come again and again and again 

d.     . . .and again

                                              i.     And He always receives me as if it is the first time!

 IV.         Say What?

a.    2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. KJV

                                              i.     What “old things” are passed away?

1.    Just my stuff? My sin?  

2.    Am I the only one who is affected by me being in Christ? NO!

3.    I must understand that I am trying to charge you interest on something I never should have taken from you

b.    Let’s read the rest of it!!!

                                               i.     2 Corinthians 5:16-17

16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. KJV

1.    I must forget your past, your weaknesses, your background, your sins, all that JUST AS CHRIST FORGAVE ME.

2.    I now know you by your spirit!  I can only address what I see standing before me today, in this moment!

a.    Christians – that does NOT give you the right to be turkeys and think you will get away with it!

c.    Butterflies don’t have babies with caterpillars!  

                                              i.     They walk, eat, talk, move and live differently.  

                                             ii.     Are they any better? NO! But they are now different.

                                           iii.     DON’T EVER FORGET WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND HOW YOU GOT TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW, YOU HAVE BEEN CHANGED BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST.

   V.         My Sin Is Great 

a.    Psalms 25:11 For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. KJV

b.    Psalms 25:18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. KJV

 VI.         Reconciliation

a.    Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. KJV

                                              i.     Sometimes I cannot make it “right” but I may be able to make it better.

1.    The choice is not always up to you

2.    It may never be what it was but it could be better than what it is

VII.         Altar Call – Aren’t You Just Tired Of Being Mad?

a.     Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  KJV

b.     

2025.07.16 - See If For Yourself!

 

      I.         Something Real 

a.    With the onset of AI, what is “real” and what is not is becoming harder to distinguish.

b.    How Do I Know When It’s Love – Van Halen 

    II.         The Story 

a.     1 Kings 10:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

 2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,

5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. KJV

  III.         Sheba’s Queen

a.    She had heard the rumors

                                              i.     1 Kings 10:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. KJV

                                             ii.     How often are we offended because someone challenges our faith, we get mad instead of getting anointed.

b.    Now she had to see for herself 

c.   What she had heard made her hope, what she saw made her believe.

d.    She came with gifts – she wanted to believe.

 IV.         Samarian Searcher

a.     John 4:39-42 

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

41 And many more believed because of his own word;

42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world .K JV

   V.         What Do You Taste Like?

a.     Psalms 34:8

8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. KJV

b.     Matthew 5:13

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. KJV

                                              i.     We must live so that they hear

                                             ii.     We must live so that they see

                                           iii.     We must live and walk in The Power of the Spirit of God 

 VI.         The Fire of God Does Not Fall On Empty Altars

a.    I. Want. More!

b.    To get more I need to give more, but not in the way you think.

                                              i.     You and I are living sacrifices, I don’t need to DO more, I need to GIVE more – OF ME.

                                             ii.     I can give a perfect offering without being perfect. 

                                           iii.     Those that were raising the offering/sheep/lamb were not perfect but their offering was!

                                           iv.     God will accept me all at once!

                                             v.     God will accept me piece by piece!

c.    Give yourself to God until He has more of you than you do!