Bare with me...for some reason the background color changed on this blog and I cannot figure out how to fix it! Anyway....bloggin'time!
As Josh & I (and soon to be Abigail!!) embark on a new
adventure here at Gordon-Conwell, we have many things to do, but most
importantly find a church. Since being here, we've "tried" 3
churches. No, we're not "church-shopping." We are however looking for
a body of fellow believers who will support us and encourage us, sharpening us as we pursue ministry together.
Aside from what the church can do for us, we want need a place where we can "do" for them. Our hearts are to serve. For just as Christ did, we're
looking not to be served, but to serve. (Mark 10:45)
With that said, we visited a local church this
morning! Yay! And this week, we actually made it to church without
getting in an accident! (Long story short, we were on our way to visit a church
two weekends ago and a what-I'd-call-typical-Massachusetts-driver smashed right
into the back of our sweet Scion, Betsy...He was probably too focused on his
Dunkin D's than the road!) Anyway, we made it to Garden City Church (Assembly's
of God) this morning in the drizzling rain...in our sporty rental car! The
church itself is being held in an elementary school cafeteria right now.
No worries, the worship & scripture is still the same! So, we walk
into the school dripping wet (I know you're saying to yourself, "Wouldn't
you be smarter than a fifth grader and bring an umbrella?" but what you
don't know is that I AM smarter than a fifth grader and I DID bring my own
'brella! ...The button is jammed...we found that out after going outside.) So,
here we are, the "new" people, walking with an umbrella folded up
above our heads...unopened. I'm sure the people who saw us put us on their
mental prayer list!
Honestly, I'd never been to a church that met inside a school, but I was open to it! The Bible was being taught straight forward, so we had no concerns. Before his sermon, he opened up with a word of prayer. As the pastor began to teach, Josh & I were completely drawn in. He taught on a passage that we've both read (and probably you too!) many, many times--as follows:
Scripture:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21-35
His point is not to lose sight of what's been given to you. If you can truly say that Christ died for YOU (not just the sinners around you), forgiving YOUR sins on the cross, then you should be able to extend that forgiveness to others. How do you respond to grace? Let it shape who you are.
Think about when you've been in "trying times." How did you respond? Did you act out hoping for something bad to happen to the person who hurt you? Or did you forgive them because YOU have been forgiven?
2 Peter1:5-9: "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins."
So pray for his
work on the cross to be a reality for you. Be thankful for this
unmerited favor. Desire His call for you to forgive.
Remember, nothing
you say or do will ever earn you grace. It's done. Receive it and be thankful...Now
extend it to those around you!
Convicting right?
Good stuff right there. I loved this sermon. I went in with a desire to hear
God's Word preached, and I left with a deeper vision of the Gospel.
Happy Sunday,
ya'll!
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