Sermon

Forgiveness & Freedom
Matthew 6:6-15
 

I. People will sin against you

    * Someone lies about you
    * Someone cheats you
    * Your father or mother hurt you with words
    * Your marriage vow was violated
    * Your boss treats you badly
    * You are shamed in front of people
    * You were abused as a child

II. We have also hurt people

    * All have sinned…there is none righteous
    * We have hurt people with words...or worse
    * Lies…gossip…spoken harshly…
    * Sometimes we may not even know

III. Our Response to hurt or heal is in our hands

    * Forgiving is not easy—Lk. 17:3-5

“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.  If he sins against you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent’, forgive him. The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’
 
 
To hurt or to heal is in our hands

    * Forgiveness is based on what God has done for us—Matthew 18:21-35
          o The servant could not repay his debt $300M
          o The King cancelled the debt…all of it!
          o The servant demanded 100 days wages:$600
          o His unforgiveness was rewarded with prison

 
To hurt or to heal is in our hands

    * Whatever we choose to do, will be returned in full—Luke 6:37-38

    “…for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

** We will get what we give…our response and the result is in our hands
 
 
IV. Forgiveness is the path to freedom

    * Forgiveness—to release from bondage or imprisonment, to pardon, to let go.
    * We are forgiven as we forgive
    * There is a surprise for those who forgive…

    Lewis Smedes says, “to forgive is to set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner was you.”
 
 
V. A path to forgiving

    * Realize you cannot change what happened
    * Revenge is not the answer
    * God invented the only way to heal you
    * Forgiving is not being foolish
    * Forgiving is not based on the person saying “I’m sorry”
    * Forgiving is a journey…it takes time

 
The effects of forgiving

    * You heal the hurts and wounds inside you caused by others
    * You receive God’s forgiveness for your own sins
    * You are set free to grow in God

GO Question

Ice breaker: is it true that women have better memory of remembering stuffs ?

Questions:

1. Have you ever been hurt deeply by someone ? can you share that experience ?
2. Pertaining to question 1, do you still keep the grudge against that person, even when it happened years ago ? for example, Pastor Bill had a grudge against his father for something that his father said when he was 14 years old.
3. How does this grudge affecting your relationship with that person ?
4. How do you feel about forgiving others? how hard is it ? people said "to forgive and forget". are we actually able to do this ? when we forgive, do we forget that person's mistake ?
5. Read Matthew 18:21-35. God will not forgive you if you don't forgive others. What action will you take after reading this passage?
6. A quote said that " To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was YOU." What do you think of this quote ? What do you think you will gain by forgiving others ?

Pray with other member if they admit they have a problem with this. If he/she is open enough to mention the name of that person, then pray for him/her as well.

GO Questions prepared by Sinaga Pradjinata/GO Escape